Fallen Stars
by rexlover180
Summary: In a world with few stars and no hope, with no laws or order, with magic and no happy endings, a hero manages to rise up. He may not seem like much, just one man facing an entire, screwed up world. But, with a few extra people, including his blind brother, a dragon rider, and a wizard with two personalities, he just might be able to change something. But will it be for the better?
1. Never

_**WARNING: There is rape and death involved in this chapter. It is not explicit, but can be triggering. Read at your own risk.**_

~~~Fallen Stars~~~

**Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.  
-Harvey Fierstein**

~~~Fallen Stars~~~

Something…happened. No one knows what, everyone just knows everything went to shit afterwards. There are stories that there used to be Kings uniting these things called countries and awesome technology that could be better than even the strongest magic. But it all just died with the stars. Those blank patches in the sky? Some people think that there used to be a few stars there, but most people are just worried about surviving until the next day.

Some people have the luck to live with the obnoxious, pompous rich people. That is, people that had the luck to be able to trade enough to secure a section of land all for themselves and actually manage to make it secure. Those people traded for lives, people willing to work their land and build what they needed. Those lucky bastards had the ability to eat once a day, sleep with solid ground beneath their heads, and sleep for a couple of hours a night.

Most people weren't so lucky. Most people moved constantly. Raiders or thieves' guilds were constantly on the prowl, attacking whatever and whoever they could see. People would build makeshift living areas, only secured by a promise that the people around them wouldn't steal from them. They laid their location in the mud as close to the enchanted forests as possible. Hardly anyone dared to go into the forests, that was where people went if they were trying to get killed. Going anywhere else is where people went if they were trying to get tortured.

Alfred thought himself to be a simple boy, living a simple life. He had short, wheat(whatever that was)-blonde hair with this one stupid cowlick and blue eyes people said sparkled with hope, which was funny because people shouldn't know what hope even was. Some people said that the sky used to look like his eyes, but that's just an old story, something the parents told the kids so that they wouldn't cry too much at night. They even say that the water used to be pure enough that it reflected the sky. Alfred knew that was total bullshit. Alfred was strong, because he had to be. His dad had always taught him that, with no hope in this world, someone had to be a hero. Alfred didn't believe it, but he became strong nonetheless, to help his brother survive.

Matthew, Alfred's brother, was his twin. He had soft, wheat-blonde hair as well, which everyone said was impossible, and beautiful, violet eyes. The only shame was that they were blank. Matthew had never seen a single thing in his life. From the moment he was born, he'd never seen anything. Alfred always figured that was a good thing, he would never have to see this hell of a world that people merely survived in, never lived. He was small, frail, because he chose to be. He let Alfred and their father keep him safe.

Alfred's favorite thing to do, since he was a little kid and still a little innocent, was go into the forests. He never went far, but he loved them. All of them seemed to defy the world around them. They were peaceful and calm and…breathtakingly beautiful. Alfred had never seen such a beautiful green in his life and he knew that he would cling to it for all of his life, even if the forests were taken away like the stars. There were no animals, at least none that were only three feet into the forest, but he always pretended that he could hear them.

Once, hid dad had actually allowed him to use his sword when he went in there with Matthew. His father protected that sword with his life, for some reason Alfred didn't know. That was their family's one belonging. Clothes came and went, they never stayed in the same place twice, but that sword was always with them. Alfred loved to come up with stories of where it came from. Passed down from one of those kings from the past, stolen from a thief, forged by a dwarf.

One day, when Alfred was 17, he was pretty sure about his age, his life ended.

~~~Fallen Stars~~~

You don't hear anything in the forest. You only hear what's in the forest. Alfred assumed that it was just the magical aspect of it all. But you could smell the outside world inside it. Alfred was alone in the forest, when he smelled it. The fire. It made his blood run cold and his stomach drop. He knew the routine when the raiders came. He found his family, they picked up the sword, and they got the hell out of there.

As Alfred started running out of the forest and the smoke completely clouded his vision and the screams made him go deaf, he prayed to whatever the hell was up there that his family would be okay, just as usual. He was coughing and could barely breathe through the smoke. The damn raiders were using magic this time.

"Dad!" Alfred chocked out, but he couldn't hear himself over the other screams around him. "Mom! Mattie!"

People ran into him, all trying to scatter in multiple directions. He couldn't even tell who were regular people and who were the raiders. He stopped in the middle of everything, people roughly shoving into him even though they couldn't see through the smoke either.

When the screams started to die down, that was when Alfred started to run again. When this happened, you either prayed that you choked on the smoke or got burned to death by the fire. If the raiders got you, they'd kill you whatever merry way they wanted. If the thieves got you, you better hope that it was when you were dead. Alfred couldn't tell if the ones attacking were the thieves or the raiders, but he just hoped that his family could make it out alive.

"Dad! Mom!" Alfred screamed again, and his feet caught on something as he started to run full speed. He tripped, falling right into the muddy, hot remains of some shack right onto his face. He coughed up dirt and the smoke. He couldn't move. The screams were almost completely died down.

"Alfred?" came a weak voice and Alfred winced. He could hardly breathe. He glanced back at what he managed to trip on and couldn't stop himself from screaming. He didn't even notice that everything was now quiet. Below his feet, his face frozen in a permanent terror, was his own father. His skin was burned past recognition on his arms and legs and his mother laid beside him, her hair completely gone from her head.

He was suddenly kicked harshly in his side and he heard a crack, making him shut up. He knew that, if he was going to be smart, he had to stay quiet when a raider wanted their way. Now he just had to pray that it wasn't a thief.

"Look at this fucker!" the man laughed, his voice raspy and Alfred swore from that day on that he would never forget that voice. The voice of the man that took away his parents, that beat him to shit, that degraded his brother to the point of frequent nightmares. That voice would never leave Alfred's enraged thoughts.

"Fuck, it's alive!" another one cackled and Alfred received another kick, to his other side, this one much, much harder than the last. They seemed to think it a game after that, kicking him as hard as they could and Alfred had a jarring thought as he coughed up blood just as the smoke was clearing.

They had boots.

"Alfred?" a weak voice coughed and Alfred made the mistake of tensing and trying to get up. A booted foot slammed into his face, forcing him back down.

"I think he knows the beauty!" the first man howled in laughter and kicked multiple times into Alfred's face. The other one kept kicking at his back and a knew one had his merry way stomping on Alfred's hands. Alfred stopped holding back and screamed. He screamed for his life, hoping someone, anyone had the decency to save them. But that just wasn't something this world held. Mercy. "Do you know the fucking puppet?" the man leaned down and whispered his gravelly voice into Alfred's ear.

"Fuck you," Alfred growled and spit in his face. The man's face said it all, despite Alfred's blurry vision through the pain. The rugged and clean shaven face. The well-kept hair, the well put together clothing. These were thieves. And they had Matthew.

"Alfred! Help me!" Matthew screamed to the point where his voice broke and the men around him just laughed.

"Ya know what I think?" the man laughed, pulling out a knife and stabbing it into Alfred's hand with full force. It stung with a pain Alfred had never felt and his vision went red for a while as he screamed his lungs out. "He should watch. They're fucking brothers, right?"

"Shit, they are!" another one started laughing, howling at the clearing sky.

"Let's have you take a look!" the first one kicked Alfred so hard, he turned, flopping onto his other side. The first thing he saw was his brother, held on both arms by thieves, his blank eyes staring into nothing, hoping that Alfred would come and save him. Tears ran down his face, tears Alfred had nearly forgotten he even had.

"Alfred," he whimpered out, looking like he wanted to fall to his knees, but the men were holding him up.

"Ain't he a fuckin' beauty?" the first man laughed, waltzing over the burned ashes of the ground and bodies to get to Matthew, who shrunk away from him immediately after he was touched. The man just laughed and roughly grabbed onto Matthew's face, popping the jaw out of place. Matthew screamed and Alfred flinched.

"Mat-" he couldn't even finish, not just because of the pain he was in, but because of a sharp knife pressed against his neck, already making his blood dribble down, onto the ground.

"Say one word and we'll kill you and take him with us," the man in front of Matthew laughed. "Lay there quietly, and we may just let you both die together. We're just that nice of people."

"Please…" Matthew begged and Alfred nearly yelled at him. Their father told them never to beg, never back down. If you're gonna die, you die with dignity. "D-don't hurt me…Please."

"Oh, I ain't gonna hurt you, beauty," the man laughed, looking Matthew over with hungry eyes that made Alfred sick. "I'm gonna pleasure you."

Matthew froze at that, shaking terribly now. His blind eyes searched frantically for Alfred, his only hope. It was just a shame that Alfred was no hero. He had no ability to save him, ever. He was just kidding himself when he thought that he could in the first place.

Alfred tried to close his eyes as Matthew was undressed forcefully while the man seemed to be enjoying every moment of it. The person holding the knife to his neck hit him hard in the back of the head.

"You gotta watch, kid," the guy growled and Alfred forced himself to open his eyes and look. Another memory ingrained in his brain forever. That one man that destroyed every aspect of Alfred's life that he thought existed before that one day.

Matthew screamed every second of it, screamed for Alfred to come and save him, when all Alfred could do was sit there in agony, hit every time he even blinked. The smoke was clear, the magic from the fire gone, sucked up by the forest. He was forced to watch as Matthew's world shattered, as all of the hope he'd ever had disappeared.

When the man that destroyed everything was happy, he dropped Matthew to the ground without a hint of remorse and laughed, looking at Alfred. He charged toward him one last time, kicking him right in the center of his stomach. Alfred puked right there and it felt like anything that was ever in his stomach came out. The thieves around them just laughed, enjoying the rest of their day as they walked off, going to find the next town to attack.

Alfred laid there, shaking as he tried to get over the pain, tried to erase the memories. Eventually, he looked over at his brother, who was blindly clutching at the ground around him, choking out sobs that could barely make it out before the next one.

That was all Alfred needed to keep going, to move on with his life. His brother was still alive and needed him. He couldn't be a hero to him before, but he sure as hell was going to be one now.

"Mattie," Alfred barely managed out a word as he slowly squirmed his way over, next to his brother. He was thankful those thieves hadn't felt the need to kill him with their own hands like they often did to everyone else.

"A-Alfred," Matthew's voice cracked and he urgently surged forward, his blind eyes roving around uselessly, as if they could actually see Alfred.

"Right here," Alfred muttered out, reaching forward just enough to brush Matthew's hand. Matthew immediately found it again, clutching it with all of the life he had left. Alfred knew that they couldn't make it out of there alive, let alone find a place to get them back up to normal health. If anyone even got ill, they were sent away from everyone, so that no one else would die. No one had the mercy to take in someone who was injured.

"Do-don't leave," Matthew muttered, crying like his life depended on it.

"We're going to make it," Alfred promised. He didn't know how he could possibly come up with that kind of idea. But he didn't it anyway and he clung to the idea for all of his life. That was how he kept going with his life. He clung to that one idea. Alfred slowly and barely managed to get onto his knees. "I'm going to get dad's sword and then we'll make it out of here."

"No," Matthew furiously shook his head. "You can't leave. Please…Don't…"

"I'll be back," Alfred nodded as he shakily stood on his feet, barely able to stay standing and his lungs aching with every word he tried to speak. "Promise."

"Don't go," Matthew whispered. Alfred wouldn't hear his voice loud again. Matthew would prefer to stay quiet, stay on the sidelines, where he wouldn't be noticed.

Alfred nodded back to him, even though he knew Matthew couldn't see him. He slowly trudged through the mess of corpses and burnt remains, Matthew quietly calling out to him. He barely managed to find where their shack used to be and he prayed and hoped that the thieves hadn't stolen it.

He tumbled to the ground when he saw the glistening of the gold on the sword, something his dad fought to ensure no one had ever seen. The sheath and the hilt were made of an opulent gold that Alfred only saw a few times in his whole life. Coughing up even more blood, Alfred slowly reached forward slowly to hold onto the sword. It was a miracle the thieves didn't take it, it was so obvious. However, Alfred glanced to his left and saw that there was the corpse of a thief nearby, his hand burned to the point where Alfred could see bone. Alfred shivered as he reached forward and grabbed hold of the sheath.

And it was like all of his pain just suddenly melted away. It wasn't hard to breathe and he felt well enough to stand. To jump and run. Alfred was quickly on his feet, holding onto the sword tightly into his hand. Was this why his dad wanted to keep it so badly? Alfred looked himself over, not even a scar was present on his skin.

"Mattie!" Alfred called over and ran, scrambling to get over to his brother. If this sword could heal him, maybe it could help Matthew, too. Maybe they could actually make it out of this alive.

"Alfred," Matthew whispered, clutching at the ground around him again, as if he could pull Alfred over to him. "Please…please don't leave me again."

"It's okay, I got you," Alfred said soothingly, rubbing his brother's back. "Here," Alfred held out the sword to Matthew, placing it on the ground. Matthew fumbled for it as Alfred took off his shirt, placing it over Matthew's bare body as he watched the scars disappear slowly and Matthew's breathing evened out.

"I don't understand," Matthew muttered, shaking his head as he slowly managed to sit upright, wincing at a pain that Alfred knew was only mental and would probably only stay that way. Alfred noticed with a frown, however, that Matthew's eyes remained blank.

"It's Dad's sword," Alfred smiled at him, taking hold of the sword while Matthew still gripped it, as if he was afraid that the wounds would come back as soon as he let go. "Now I know why he always made us keep it."

"Is…is he…?" Matthew muttered, unable to finish the sentence and Alfred sighed. He didn't want to confirm it, to leave them alone in this fucked up world. So Alfred didn't say anything and Matthew nodded in silent agreement.

"I promise, Mattie," Alfred vowed, "you will never be hurt again. I swear to you that…that I'll be a hero, like Dad wanted me to be. I'm going to make this world into something better. As long as I can help it, no one will ever be hurt again." And Alfred was finally crying. He was shaking, refusing to look at the reality of the world, but at the one in his head, with his eyes closed. The one that he was vowing to make. "I promise."

"Good luck," Matthew whispered. "You'll need it."

**~~~Fallen Stars~~~**

**So, this didn't take me three tries to write at all… And I "totally" wasn't watching Cosmos while writing more than half of this… I have no idea what you're talking about… Anyway, this has been planned for a while, but I've had a lot on my plate recently, so this has been a rough time starting it. As I did with my last story, I'm going to stay three chapters ahead and I will update as fast as I can, promise!**

**Anyway, on with talking about plot and things, this is only the first chapter, the tip of the iceberg. There's gonna be a ton of people in this one, I promise. And the thieves are OCs, don't worry, no one's that cruel. Basically, the way this world works is that it doesn't. Shit just hit the fan after "something happened." More on that later in the actual plot. At the beginning of every chapter, I'm going to have a quote and I'll take the chapter title from the quote, so you can look forward to that. And I think this will be the worst any of the chapters get…rape wise and all that. I really debated on having it in there, but I feel like it shows you just what's going on in this world.**

**Pairing wise, they are as follows: USUK, FrUK, PruCan, GerIta, AusHun, and maybe Spamano. You have been warned. I really want each chapter to be 3,000 to 4,000 words, but we'll see how that goes.**

**Also, in other news, I'm going to have a little competition. I have a huge plot twist coming up and if any reader can give me an educated guess on what it is, then I will give you your very own Hetalia one-shot! I wish you all luck!**

**Please review! Tell me how you feel about this thus far!**

**And I do not and never will own Hetalia. There. I've said it. Happy?**


	2. Invisible

**Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.  
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.**

***Fallen Stars***

"You think that'll be the place?" Matthew asked quietly, crouching next to Alfred in a tall tree in an enchanted forest nearby some kind of town. It looked more permanent than anything else Alfred had seen, probably because they had made a deal with raiders or thieves to keep themselves safe. The people that did that always made Alfred sick. The deals always required some kind of sacrifice, which usually wound up with trading people to the thieves or giving away half of their food to the raiders. Anything to survive.

"We'll find out," Alfred muttered, crouching low as he tried to peer closer into the town, instinctively holding onto the hilt of his father's sword.

"What does it look like?" Matthew asked curiously, gripping tightly onto the bark around them so that he wouldn't fall.

"It's permanent," Alfred explained. "A few places look like actual houses and shops. I bet they've made a pact with thieves, considering how many people are actually in there. They're just…walking around. The largest building has a few people sitting around it."

"Do you think we'll actually find someone to help us in there?" Matthew asked, quietly doubting him and Alfred sighed. For the months following what had happened to the village, Alfred kept trying to ensure that his promise was kept. He figured out that he'd need more people than just him and his blind brother, so he'd been searching. Searching for anyone that he could trust or was actually capable of kindness in this fucked up world.

Matthew had promised not to be a dead weight and had learned how to walk around fairly easily without help. He'd also learned how to fight. Alfred had no idea how, but Matthew seemed to be able to naturally do it and do it well. Even with being blind, he'd been able to pin Alfred down constantly. For months, they were constantly on the move, relying on the enchanted forests to like them and give them food every morning.

"We might," Alfred sighed and quickly dropped down to the next branch on the tree. "Only way to find out is to go, right?"

"Right," Matthew nodded and Alfred helped guide him down the tree, one branch at a time. They'd failed to find anyone that was worthwhile to add to their group for the whole time they were searching, but Alfred wasn't about to give up. Although, he'd been able to stop a few people stealing things from people or even stop someone from being beaten.

"Remember to act like you're not-"

"Blind, I know," Matthew finished his sentence with a quiet sigh, walking behind Alfred carefully. The people in the town stared at them as they passed by and Alfred made sure that he knew, constantly, where his brother was. They weaved through people and Alfred sighed heavily, noting that everyone was the same. They didn't give a shit about anyone else around them and cared only about themselves.

Before long, they approached the large building in the center where there were still a large group of people. There was a large man lounging on a barrel, against the wall of the building, looking around at everyone with greedy eyes. The people around him, men and women, were all covered in dirt and were looking around with the same eyes. All, except for one.

There was one man with blonde hair that looked like he at least tried to take care of himself, despite the fact that he still looked ragged. He was sitting beside the big man, as if he was the most important out of the whole group. What got Alfred the most, though, was the blonde's eyes. They were a brilliant green, the color of the enchanted forests. Alfred had never seen anything like it and he wanted, more than anything else, to talk to the man.

But he knew better than to go anywhere near that group. It was obvious exactly what they were. The women hardly had their dresses on properly and the men were mostly shirtless, aside from the blonde. All of them had no shoes and one of them stood up, striding over to a man and all but forced him against a nearby house.

They were prostitutes.

***Fallen Stars***

Arthur considered himself a simple man. He would live his life, not bother anyone, and live until the next day. Just like any other person in this bloody useless world. Then, his brothers traded him for a cow.

Now, Arthur was considered a fairly good trade, considering the fact that he was a wizard. A very powerful one, at that. Because he had magic, he was valuable to those damn prostitute owners. They knew how to manipulate magic to create an entirely new personality, Arthur had no idea how. If he did, he would find some way to undo it. Half of the time, the new personality would overtake the old one and a perfect prostitute was made. The other half of the time, the new personality and the old one hit each other head on. Two personalities in one head.

That usually happened to the ones with a stronger will and, since it happened when Arthur was still angry beyond belief at his brothers, his old personality stayed. And he was constantly fighting with that new personality over control. The furthest Arthur had gotten, control wise, was that he had the ability to bring that new personality forward on a whim. Other than that, there was no control, for either personality. The only bright side was that his prostitute self didn't have any more control over it than he did.

The only person with full control over anything was the prostitute dealer, the fat arse sitting right next to him, as if he were protecting him. Like he gave a damn about protecting Arthur when he was working…

It was just some normal, hot day around the filth of the other prostitutes with him. He just had some gut feeling, though, that something was off. He glanced around at the other filth around him. His other personality had slept with half of them, given them the times of their lives probably. He did see one unfamiliar face, however. The first thing he saw was blue.

It was blue like he'd only seen rarely, when he would go into the enchanted forest. It was just like the blue skies deep in the forests, where no one dared to go. That reflected into the clear water. They shone with a happiness Arthur had never seen before, despite the fact that the chiseled face that owned the eyes being serious, like all of the rest. It almost gave him…hope?

"Found us a new one," the fat man chuckled happily. Arthur had never bothered to remember his name, since the man never seemed to give a damn about him. Arthur watched him point a pudgy finger towards the man with the blue eyes and Arthur looked back at the fat man.

"What?" Arthur asked, trying not to betray any emotion. That always made the fat man work him harder.

"I saw the way he looked at ya," the fat man laughed, holding onto his belly. Arthur always hated that damn fat. The arse always had a surplus of food, to the point where he wouldn't even eat it all, and he would toss it to the other prostitutes, like they were dogs. Arthur never joined the mad scramble for the fat man's scraps, no matter how hungry or desperate he was. "He's obviously gay, that's your specialty, eh?"

"Not mine," Arthur muttered under his breath, looking back at the man with the blue eyes. He was talking to another boy that looked just like him. Arthur noticed the obvious lack of focus in the other's, indigo eyes. There was something wrong there.

"Arthur," the fat man commanded. "You will go and pleasure that boy until he gives us everything he has."

And that flipped the switch.

Finally, he was free from the stiff that kept trying to take over the body that was rightfully his. He looked back over at the boy the fat man had mentioned, his face a blurry memory in his mind. Looking him over, he wasn't much. He looked strong, sure, and those eyes were definitely something interesting. However, he looked…predictable. Despite having a completely different demeanor than the rest of the idiots walking around, he was so predictable. And the way he was hovering around his twin, who was obviously blind, told Arthur that he wanted to be a hero. What an adorable ideal.

"Yes, sir," Arthur sighed, standing up easily on his weak feet. Perhaps his other self would get wise and start accepting some of the bloody food that was tossed at him. He may not get any of the traded goods from the people he had sex with, but he got food, just what he needed to survive. And that was all he needed.

Arthur quickly walked forward, just thinking about the image of that boy screaming underneath him, his blue eyes sparkling with pleasure. That'd definitely be worth that shiny sword on his belt.

***Fallen Stars***

"I don't think this is going anywhere," Alfred sighed, sticking close to his brother in the crowd of people moving around to do nothing. "Maybe we should just get going."

"Maybe," Matthew nodded in consent. Alfred moved his hand to his sword subconsciously and he started to turn around when something rammed into him.

Alfred quickly realized it was a person when hands pressed against his chest and lips softly, yet firmly crashed onto his. Alfred barely even had time to register what was happening before those hands expertly ripped open his shirt and a very skilled tongue started to explore the inside of his mouth. Alfred easily realized that this was a prostitute. He'd never felt so good in his life and he would have thought that this was a girl if it wasn't for the person's strength.

Alfred slowly brought himself to push the person away and gasped for air as the person, a man, smirked and scoffed at him. That was when Alfred saw the eyes. This was the man with those brilliant green eyes. Something was wrong, though. They were dark, like the forest was covered in dark clouds, about ready to rain.

"Back off," Alfred growled. He'd never had to handle a prostitute before, but he had seen other men try. All that they were left with was maybe some clothes they could piece together. The prostitutes were no better than the thieves.

"Well, aren't you angry," the man smirked, his voice laced with lust and Alfred shivered. He couldn't deal with this, he didn't have the supplies or the time.

"I don't have anything to trade you for any of this," Alfred tried to convince the man to get away. If he made himself seem uninteresting, the man would just go away.

"Don't pretend you aren't flashing that sword around for everyone to see," the man smirked and reached slowly towards the gold hilt of the sword and Alfred quickly caught his hand.

"Trust me, you don't want to touch that," Alfred said. He'd figured it out after a few times that the only people that could touch that sword without getting killed was him and Mattie. People had died trying to steal it and Alfred wasn't about to let anymore try.

"Would you prefer I touch something else?" the man smirked and leaned forward slightly, his hands creeping dangerously close to Alfred's legs.

"Stop it," Alfred glared at the man, his hands going to take the other's, though he noticed that they were shaking. Then he remembered that Matthew wasn't nearby. "Shit. Mattie?!"

"You mean your blind twin?" the man scoffed and Alfred gave him a disbelieving look. "Oh, please, it's easy to spot a blind man, no matter how hard they try to hide it. Maybe I could try him after you, though he does seem a little too innocent for my tastes."

"Don't you dare fucking try to touch a hair on his head," Alfred snapped and the man blinked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"I could get used to that side of you, love," the man laughed, eyeing him up and down. "It fits a little better than that hero act you were trying earlier."

Suddenly, a woman screamed and the man's eyes suddenly turned lighter. He shoved himself away from Alfred , breathing heavily with eyes wide.

"Bloody hell, dammit," the man cursed to himself and Alfred blinked, before remembering what had just happened.

"Get the fuck out of the way of my cart, ya bastards!" a man shouted as Alfred ran over to where the commotion came from. Alfred was actually genuinely surprised when he saw the man stand beside him with a concerned look on his face.

In front of him, people were moved in a circle, obviously watching in hope that something would happen, be it good or bad. There was a cart with a horse freaking out. The man in charge of the cart didn't seem to care about it, rather he was busy yelling at something on the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with ya! Can't you see a fucking object in front of your face?!"

"Please don't be…" Alfred muttered, shoving through the thick crowd to see who the man was yelling at. He really hoped it wasn't Matthew, but if he wasn't there, where the hell could he have gone?

Alfred wasn't even sure if he was relieved or panicked when he saw his brother lying on the ground, on his back, looking blankly up at a man that looked like he came straight out of hell, dressed in clothing from a thieves' guild.

***Fallen Stars***

"Alfred?" Matthew asked when he felt a sudden rush of air and then nothing else but people shoving past him in all directions. "Alfred?" his voice squeaked. He never liked being alone, he hated it. He started breathing quickly in his panic and tried to think of something to do. His brother wouldn't just leave his side for no reason, something must have happened.

The first thought that crossed Matthew's mind was that he couldn't make it look like he was blind, that he could only, in reality, see darkness all around him. Taking in a deep breath, Matthew moved to take a step. Maybe he could find Alfred, if he was very lucky. If not, then he could wind up in the forest. He remembered the steps they had taken and started walking that way. People still bumped into him but he didn't care. He always felt safe when he was in the forest, something not even his brother being around could give him. No one was brave enough to go into the enchanted forests, at least as far as he and Alfred went.

Matthew stopped dead in his tracks, though, when he walked right into a person's chest.

"Jeez, look out," the man cackled happily and Matthew was immediately confused. He'd never heard anyone be that happy. "You look lost, kid," the man ruffled Matthew's hair and he flinched away from him. He tried to focus on where the man's voice was, to make it look like he was looking at him.

"S-Sorry," Matthew muttered and decided on looking down, that was always a good default. He really hoped that strange man would just keep walking.

"What the hell are you doing so close to those prostitutes, a kid like you?" the man asked, continuing a conversation that Matthew didn't want. Who knew what this man looked like, he could have been a raider or…a thief… "You look a little too innocent to be going alone around here."

"Yeah, I was just going to find my brother," Matthew muttered and started to walk around the man. At least, where he hoped the man was standing. The man didn't try to continue the conversation, thankfully and Matthew started to hurry along in hopes to get away.

"Holy shit, look out!" the man shouted just as Matthew heard the sound of a carriage and…maybe a horse? Either way, Matthew was soon tackled hard onto the ground and he coughed heavily. Something heavy was on top of him and Matthew started breathing heavily, struggling to get out from beneath the man.

"Get the fuck out of the way of my cart, ya bastards!" a man snapped above them and Matthew stopped fighting to get away for a moment. The crowd was quiet around them and Matthew got a sinking feeling in his stomach. "What the hell is wrong with ya! Can't you see a fucking object in front of your face?!"

"Shit…" the man directly above Matthew muttered and he started to squirm again. "Your blind?"

"Mattie!" Alfred's voice yelled out for him and Matthew had never been so relieved before.

"Alfred!" Matthew called out and the man above him disappeared, allowing Matthew to scramble to his feet and scramble towards where he heard Alfred's footsteps. He stood up and Alfred pulled him into a hug, his familiar smell enveloping Matthew. He breathed deeply into his chest. He had no idea what could have possibly happened, but he was happy that he was safe now. "We should go back to the forest."

"Yeah, I'm on it, "Alfred nodded and started running, one hand clamped firmly around Matthew's wrist. They ran through the thick crowd, Matthew barely able to get around it. Eventually, he felt the cool shade and gave a relieved sigh, hitting against some bark of the trees as they ran through the forest. Alfred eventually stopped them and Matthew panted, dropping to the ground, shaking.

"Where the hell were you planning on going?" Alfred snapped.

"Back here," Matthew muttered.

"Do you have any idea who the fuck you were talking to?!" Alfred yelled. "He was dressed like a thief!"

Matthew didn't say anything, a hand just clamped over his mouth and tears sprang to his eyes. He didn't want to cry, but he couldn't help himself. He'd been pinned by a thief, of all people! He'd ran into him and gave away his weakness. He was so stupid! Something bad could have happened again!

"I never thought that anyone else would be brave enough to go this far into the forest," another new voice stated and Alfred shifted slightly.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

*****Fallen Stars*****

**I wasn't planning on updating this today, but I'm celebrating the fact that I now have Frozen on DVD and will be watching it in French as soon as possible.**

**Anyway, I honestly wasn't expected Mattie's perspective to pop in there. He is one of the two major characters, but I expected it later. Oh, well. Anyway, regarding Matthew's perspective, he's blind so he can't see, so I can have irony up the wazoo with him. It'll be a party. Who was it that was talking to Matthew? We might or might not find out next chapter! Hehehe.**

**Anyway, now we've met Arthur, and I am in love with his character. Basically, the way this world works is that people that are good with manipulating magic find a bunch of witches and wizards and manipulate them to the point where a new personality should take over. Some people are too strong for this and two personalities come up. Arthur's personalities are his regular, England self and his pirate self. I am in love with Pirate!England and I feel like he would fit perfectly into this world and that's what the prostitutes are meant to do. I probably won't do Arthur's perspective often, but when I do, I will try to make it obvious which personality is thinking. In any other perspective, except Matthew's, his eyes are a telltale sign. His eyes are darker as Pirate!England and are brighter when he's regular England. I hope I didn't confuse you all too badly with that explanation!**

**Anywho, please review and remember that whole competition to find out the plot twist with an educated guess! I'm going to give away a few hints in the next couple of chapters!**


	3. Lead

**A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.  
-John C. Maxwell**

*****Fallen Stars*****

"I never thought that anyone else would be brave enough to go this far into the forest," that prostitute's voice said and Alfred immediately shifted so that he was in front of his brother, protecting him from whatever the hell that prostitute would think of doing. He'd already been through enough, being pinned by a thief, of all people.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Alfred growled at the man, but there was something…different. The man didn't seem the same as before. His arms were crossed over his chest as he raised a rather large eyebrow at them. His eyes were as bright and green as the forest around them and he seemed perfectly relaxed, despite the fact that they were in an enchanted forest.

"Relax, I'm not about to rape you or anything," the prostitute rolled his eyes and slumped against a nearby tree. "This is simply where I go to think.. You two just happen to be in the same place. Though, I have never seen anyone else willing to go so far into one. Everyone seems to think that they're dangerous."

"That's the whole reason we go into them," Alfred said, slowly standing up. He made sure that he was still close to Matthew, he always hated being left alone. "So that no one follows us."

"Smart lads," the prostitute nodded, looking up at the bits of sky he could see through the trees. "My name is Arthur, by the way. I apologize for what happened earlier."

"What do you mean?" Alfred narrowed his eyes at him.

"So it seems some people don't know," Arthur shook his head. "I'm a wizard and people like to kidnap people like me and manipulate our magic to make another personality. That was who you had the pleasure of meeting before. My apologies."

"You have two personalities?" Alfred asked slowly, his interest piquing. Matthew stood up behind him as Alfred tried to think through what this could mean. The prostitute version of him seemed just like any other person in this world, but this new version of him was entirely different. That didn't mean he could trust him, but it just meant that this might have gotten even more dangerous.

"And I haven't a clue how to control when I change," Arthur shrugged.

"Alfred, do you think we should…" Matthew whispered, but didn't finish his statement. Alfred knew exactly what he was thinking. This man had followed them into the forest, not for the purpose of killing or stealing from them, but to talk. Alfred clenched his teeth, trying to think through what they should do.

"Your brother, is he blind?" Arthur asked carefully and Matthew stiffened.

"Thought you already figured that one out," Alfred muttered.

"My personalities don't share memories, if that's what you're talking about," Arthur sighed. "And don't worry, I have no intention of using that to my advantage. I don't know about your morals, but I like to think of myself as different from those idiots that fill this world."

"How so?" Alfred asked, his mind running fast to try to keep up with what he was trying to figure out about this man. Who knew if he was lying and just trying to gain their trust. He did show an interest in Alfred's sword earlier. Maybe he was just trying to wait until they were open and then try to steal it. He would get his own punishment with that, probably with his hand getting burned to the bone.

"Why are you the only one allowed to ask questions?" Arthur asked, obviously on guard as well. It was hard to trust anyone in this world.

"I know it sounds stupid," Alfred sighed. If he was going to try to get this man on his side, then he would just try telling him what he wanted to do. If he turned against them, Alfred always had his sword as backup. "It probably is stupid. But, I want to try to make this world a better place, like something where you can walk down a street and not have to make sure no one will rape you or steal from you. I want there to be people that can stop the thieves and the raiders, a system that basically punishes them for doing something that they shouldn't."

"And how do you define that?" Arthur asked, though it didn't sound like he was considering it a stupid idea. "How do you know what's right and wrong?"

"What my pa taught me," Alfred explained. "You don't do something to someone that you wouldn't want to be done to yourself."

Arthur looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped suddenly, his eyes darkening as he started to laugh, a grin plastered on his face. It was an entire change in personality and now Alfred was on edge again, making sure Matthew was safe behind him.

"Are you stupid?" Arthur laughed and Alfred noticed that he had an entire different way of talking. It could still have been an act, but Alfred was beginning to doubt it. "I don't give a shit what people do to me. I can just do the same back to them and we're even."

"And you're okay just living like that?" Alfred asked. "Just making sure you're even? Wouldn't it just be better if you were safe in the first place?"

"And what the hell does safe mean?" Arthur scoffed. "Like your brother behind your back? Or like in one of those flimsy houses in town?"

"What I want is something that this world just doesn't have yet," Alfred said, trying to keep his thoughts straight. It was so much easier to talk to the other Arthur. "But I'm going to change that."

"With what?" Arthur laughed. "Your magic fucking sword and your blind brother? Don't think it's a surprise that I know it's enchanted. I can sense the power coming off the bloody thing."

"That's why I'm trying to find people to help me," Alfred argued. "I'm going to need all the help I can get. But it won't be from people like you, that only care about saving their own skin. It's people like you that I'm trying to get rid of in this world."

"Get rid of me and you get rid of the other one, too," Arthur smirked. "And I can tell that you like the poor bastard. He gave me his memories from this conversation and I know just by looking at your face. You're too soft to change anything in this world because there's people like me, willing to crush you like the bug you are."

"I'm not soft like you think I am," Alfred growled, walking away from his brother, who squealed slightly at being left alone. "I've seen shit that should have made me into someone like you. I could have just left my brother to die after where I lived was burned to the ground and torn apart by thieves, but I decided to do something with my life. Something productive to help people to not become like you. If there's anyone I can't stand more, it's people that only care about themselves."

"Says the boy that is trying to force people onto his side," Arthur smirked. "If you just face facts and understand that this world isn't about to change anytime soon, then you'll be better off. It's better than being disillusioned in the end because you couldn't take care of yourself."

"I can take care of myself just fine," Alfred snapped.

"Which is just like every person in this world," Arthur laughed. "You can't even take care of your brother!"

"Of course I can!" Alfred argued.

"How can you call yourself a good brother when you didn't even notice him get taken away by that thief a few moments ago?" Arthur smiled and Alfred froze, almost afraid to turn around. "You're just like everyone in this world, you care about yourself first and nothing after. Maybe you just say you love your brother, but that's just so you have more people around to help you in your own ideals. You're as pathetic as everyone else."

"So you consider yourself pathetic?" Alfred snapped back before turning around. There was no sign of Matthew. Where could that thief have taken him? The enchanted forest wasn't as safe as he thought it would be.

"In all considerations, yes," Arthur shrugged before walking ahead of Alfred. "For the sake of something to do other than fucking, and considering my other personality wants to go with you, I'll go along with it. Feel free to try to kill me anytime I make a mistake, but I doubt you'll be able to make it very far."

Alfred gaped at him for a short while. Did he really agree to join him just like that? After all of the arguing, he just decided to go along with him? Alfred caught up with him quickly, though, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He couldn't trust the man at all, but if he agreed to come along, Alfred couldn't protest. Especially considering the fact that he was a wizard and Alfred didn't even know how powerful he was.

"I know where your brother was taken, so I'll take you there," Arthur glanced back at him, his eyes still dark, like a rainstorm in the forest. "I do hope you can manage to kill this dolt. He's been annoying me for days."

***Fallen Stars***

The thief paced on the edge of the enchanted forest in front of him. That mystery blind kid had managed to disappear in there, who knew how he was brave enough. He didn't even know why he was getting distracted. He'd been sent here on a job, to kill that damn prostitute. He hadn't really looked at who or why that person wanted him dead, but it was one hell of a job with a hell of a lot of a trade item. A crown. Those things were rare as hell, completely made up of gold and laden with all kinds of jewels. Who knew who had it before, but it was in good shape and all it would take to get it would be to kill that one prostitute. Well…technically it was two people, but that didn't matter.

After a few days of staking the guy out, he'd figured out that it was the softer personality that he wanted to attack with. Not only was he less on guard, but he was also less capable with magic. However, it seemed that he'd mastered how to call up that damn other personality and he'd barely managed to get away with his life intact.

And that damn prostitute had followed those two into the forest. So it stood to reason that he was chasing after him into the forest…and not that adorable blind kid. It was all for the sake of the job, that was all. But the idea of going into one of those deathtraps was terrifying. Was it really worth a crown, or another peak at that adorable little kid?

Eventually, the thief made his decision and took a deep breath, walking into the thick trees with his sword gripped tight in his hand. Oh, how he wished that Antonio and Francis had come with him on this mission. No, of course he had to act awesome and go it alone. That kind of thinking would probably get himself killed someday, he just knew it.

He walked pretty far into it and was about to turn around when he started to hear voices. He immediately ducked behind a tree, making sure his back was to the voices so that they couldn't see him. The one drawback to his awesome looks was the fact that people could see him a mile away so sneaking around wasn't exactly his forte. He had hair the color of sparkling snow and eyes that could put blood to shame with pale skin to match. There wasn't a single person around that looked like him and he took pride in that. It just meant that he couldn't go on stealth missions like Toni. Which he was okay with. The stealth missions usually paid less anyway. He was the Awesome Gilbert, he didn't need cut rate jobs.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard two people talking, one of them being the prostitute he was after. Gilbert bit back a groan and quickly looked around, finding that they weren't close enough to see, so he ducked a little closer, behind a different tree. He just had to hope to whatever the hell was up there that nothing came to life and tried to cook him alive, like the stories all said.

After moving around for a while, Gilbert was close to them and, when he glanced over, he saw three people. The prostitute, acting like his cocky self (the little bastard), the blind kid, and someone who was probably his twin.

The twin of the blind kid had walked ahead of him to talk more to the prostitute and Gilbert got an awesome plan in his head. Quickly, he ducked forward and clamped a hand over the blind kid's mouth before quickly walking backwards. All the blind kid did was squeak and follow. He was adorable.

"Kay, don't freak out or anything," Gilbert whispered, they weren't very far from the two talking yet, but he still walked. He didn't want to be interrupted. "I promise I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm way too awesome to do something stupid like that to someone like you." The blind kid started to breathe quickly, like he was about to hyperventilate and Gilbert sighed, maybe this wasn't as good of an idea as it was in his head. "Shit, I said don't freak out."

Before Gilbert could do anything else, the kid slammed his head into his face, knocking the thief back. Then, the kid elbowed him directly in the gut, effectively knocking the wind out of Gilbert, before swiping his legs underneath Gilbert's, causing him to fall onto the ground.

"Fuck, and here I thought you were blind," Gilbert groaned as the kid put a tentative, but forceful boot onto Gilbert's side to keep him on the ground. Where the hell did the kid get a pair of boots?

"I am," the blind kid muttered and Gilbert looked up at him. There was still a blank look in those beautiful eyes, not even noticing the curls of his hair hanging right in front of them. Damn, he even looked good in the forest.

"Where the fuck did you learn how to fight?" Gilbert smirked, despite the fact that the kid couldn't see him.

"Doesn't matter," the kid said quietly. Did he always talk so quietly? That would be shame. What Gilbert could hear of his voice was beautiful. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"The name's Gilbert," he introduced himself. "Currently, I'm in pain, which is so not awesome, so I would like to get out of that. After that, I'd like to get to know you better."

"I don't understand," the kid shook his head, looking in the general direction of Gilbert's head, but he was a little off. "You're a thief."

"Yeah," Gilbert nodded. "So?"

"So that means you only care about yourself," the kid looked like he was trying to be mad, but it didn't look natural on his face.

"Sometimes," Gilbert said. "Depends how I'm feeling."

"I could never trust a thief," the kid stated and a look of pain traced across his face. What had happened to him in the past? Gilbert knew there were a lot of dicks in the thieves' guilds, including his own. Any number of things could have happened to him.

"Mattie!" a voice shouted through the trees, interrupting the moment and Gilbert rolled his eyes. The kid's twin ran towards him and gave him a hug before looking him over to ensure that he was okay. The kid took his foot off of Gilbert, allowing him to get up. But, just as he was about to, something wrapped around his ankle and pulled him up, into the air, his head hitting hard against the ground before he was pretty high in the air.

"Fuck! That hurt!" Gilbert snapped, holding onto his head in pain. Through his blurry vision, he could so that prostitute walk up to him, glaring at him with those dark green eyes that always gave him chills. "Is this the forest or are you just excited to see me?"

Before the prostitute could answer him, the kids' twin was in front of him, gorgeous sword in hand. Gilbert had never seen something so beautifully crafted, not even his own sword which was long forgotten on the ground below him. The gold on the handle was beautiful, attracting his full attention, and the sleek metal glinted in the vague sunlight of the forest.

He didn't get too long a look at it, however, before it was pressed against his neck. Immediately, Gilbert felt a burning coming off of the sword and screamed in pain. He'd experienced plenty of pain in the past, but this surpassed quite a lot of it. That was an enchanted sword, too? Damn, what a piece.

"What the fuck were you doing with my brother?" the twin growled.

"Getting my ass kicked, what did it look like?" Gilbert muttered through the pain, shutting his eyes tightly.

"What did you want with him?"

"To talk," Gilbert yelled out in pain as the twin pushed the sword even more into his neck. Gilbert could have sworn that his neck was bleeding already.

"Tell me the truth," the twin glared at him, but his eyes were such a bright blue that it didn't look menacing.

"I did," Gilbert muttered. The twin pressed the sword even harder and Gilbert screamed again, his ankle starting to throb as well with all of the weight put onto it.

"What were you doing in this forest?" Alfred asked and Gilbert couldn't bring himself to answer through the pain. All that came out when he opened his mouth to try to make up some coherent thought was a groan of pain or a yell.

Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down dramatically, everything except Gilbert's thoughts, which made them go a mile a minute. The three people in front of him seemed so familiar, past the point of seeing them before. It was like he knew them, despite the fact that Gilbert had never seen them before in his life.

Gilbert blinked and the scene around him changed. It was a massive room, decorated in an assortment of bright colors and with incredible amounts of gold and gems around it. There were so many people, none of which he knew, but all of which he remembered and recognized. He was still upside down in that room, but everyone in it had their attention on him, including that blind kid, who stared right into his eyes like he could really see.

In an instant, it was gone as Gilbert fell onto the ground of the forest, his head hitting first and he yelled out in pain again. Thankfully the sword was gone and he hoped that there wouldn't be any burn marks on his awesome neck. He tried to remember that vision, but he soon forgot what he was even trying to remember.

"Amazing, it's already healed," the prostitute muttered above Gilbert and he noted that he was talking softer, so that must have meant that he was in his other personality.

"What the fuck are you?" the twin growled as Gilbert laid on his back, sprawling his limbs on either side of him as he panted, looking up at the people around him. The prostitute and twin were looking right at him, but the blind kid just stared blankly at his brother.

"I'm a dragon rider," Gilbert answered. That was his official title in the guild, anyway. That kind of a title got you around a lot of places. There weren't a lot of dragons around and, if you could get close enough to one of those monsters without getting killed within a second, you were like a God.

"Mattie," the twin looked over at the blind kid, who nodded. "Did you mean what you said?"

"Wait, what the hell did he say?" Gilbert tried to get up, but that sword was placed about an inch from his neck and he just laid back down.

"Yeah," Mattie nodded. Gilbert frowned. What the hell was his full name? He was dying to know. All he knew was that the prostitute was Arthur, but he hardly liked to give his targets names when he was going after them. He didn't like killing people as much as he let on.

"My brother thinks we can trust you," the twin stated, glaring back at Gilbert. "Whatever the fuck it is that you did to get him to trust you, I don't care. But I guess we have no other choice. I'm going to tell you something and then ask you a question, depending on your answer you'll get to live, got it?"

"Sure," Gilbert smirked, pretty damn happy with himself that he got Mattie to trust him. Apparently, it was a big deal, which meant that Gilbert was just perfectly awesome.

"I'm trying to make a better world," the twin said. "Where there's a right and a wrong and those that do wrong get punished. Where nobody will have to crawl on their knees to get it good in life. I need people to help me otherwise it's never gonna happen. Will you come with us?"

Gilbert wanted to scoff and say no, but his body wouldn't let him. For some reason, his body stopped him from doing anything that would let him say no. His mind was suddenly screaming at him to accept and he forgot any reason he had to say no. It was an awesome idea, after all. One that would keep that little blind Birdie safe.

"Sure," Gilbert shrugged from where he lay. "You get the prostitute to agree to it, too?"

"I am not a prostitute," Arthur huffed, crossing his arms over his chest before looking away.

"But your other self is," Gilbert smirked as the sword was moved from his neck and he sat upright.

"I know you were sent to kill me," Arthur stated, looking back at him. "If you're coming with us, does that mean that you've abandoned your slot as a part of a thieves' guild?"

Gilbert smirked, this guy knew a lot. In a thieves' guild, if you don't accomplish a mission, it means either you were killed or you've left forever. Guilds didn't like that and you usually wound up getting killed either way. But Gilbert was dead-set on staying in that group for a reason he actually didn't know, but it didn't bother him.

"I was gonna leave anyway," Gilbert lied with a shrug and swiftly stood shortly after picking up his sword and putting it back into its sheath, which was incredibly boring and un-awesome in comparison to the twin's beautiful one. "So, Birdie," Gilbert leaned casually on Mattie, who jumped significantly, but didn't move away, which was a good sign. "What's your actual name?"

*****Fallen Stars*****

**And now Gilbert's here! I love his character probably the most in this entire story. Arthur's a close second. He's where you're gonna get the most hints for the plot twist, so you better read carefully. As you could hopefully tell, there's something going on his head that he's probably not even aware of yet, but it's affecting his decisions. Anyway, he was a part of a thieves' guild, along with other people if you caught that.**

**And, now, Alfred has more people on his team. A dragon rider and a wizard with two personalities. Along with his blind brother. But he's far from done! I'm excited so you should be too!**

**Please review! I love you all!**


	4. Dream

**Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.  
-James Dean**

*****Fallen Stars*****

He was having the dream again.

It was darkness, but it wasn't, he knew it better than that, but yet he didn't understand it at all. He was drifting…or was he flying? Everything was exploding, imploding, disappearing, including himself. He was in searing pain that he couldn't feel, but he could. Everything was this massive jumble.

_You're a monster._

_You're a freak._

_It's a damn good thing you had to die._

But they were wrong. Everything was crumbling, everything was disappearing. Nothing was keeping order. He hit something and the pain came, but he still couldn't feel it. He screamed and nothing and everything came out at the same time.

_Find them when you come back._

Everyone was talking in his head, yet he couldn't hear anything. Only the things the dream wanted him to hear. The stars over his head were exploding and there was nothing he could do to stop them. It took everything he had to keep the moon from crumbling and disappearing.

_Protect them._

_Fate has chosen them._

_Trust Fate._

Fuck Fate. Fate did this, fate was causing all of the pain, but making him feel none of it. Causing none of the pain, but making him feel all of it. Nothing made sense, but everything did. And Fate was to blame for that.

Fate was the only thing he believed in, the only thing that ran the world, other than himself. Fate was the only thing he could really hate because it was to blame for everything in this world.

_You'll remember._

_In due time._

He tried to scream again and it sounded like everything and nothing again. It was a weird combination, but it sounded perfect. The colors around him were turning to dust, the people around him were turning into monsters with the same look. Which meant that they were just human.

_Just not now._

***Fallen Stars***

A scream shocked Matthew out of his sleep and he opened his eyes to nothing, as usual. He heard panting from where Gilbert had fallen asleep and a groan as something shifted.

"Gilbert?" Matthew muttered. Evidently, the scream was not loud enough to wake Arthur, or for Alfred to come back from where he was keeping watch, so they were the only two to talk.

"I'm fine, Birdie," Gilbert sighed and Matthew felt his face heat up at that nickname. Where had the man even gotten it from in the first place?

"You don't sound fine," Matthew said, sitting upright.

"Just a dream," Gilbert muttered and there was more shifting. The heat from the fire they had made had long since died, so Matthew was beginning to feel the cold.

"What was it about?" Matthew asked. "A-as long as you don't mind…It just sounded like it was more than…just a dream."

"I don't even remember," Gilbert groaned. "I never do. But I just know that I've had it too many times to count. Ever since Ludwig came around."

"Just try falling asleep again," Matthew offered. He chose not to ask anything about Ludwig, since he wasn't one to pry. He wasn't going to ask questions he knew people wouldn't want to answer. If they were supposed to go after Alfred's ideals together, then they should at least try to get along. "I'm sure you'll have a better dream."

"Do you ever think that there's supposed to be more stars up there?" Gilbert asked suddenly.

"I don't know," Matthew muttered, curling onto his side and closing his eyes, not like it made any difference if they were open.

"It just doesn't feel right, looking into that sky," Gilbert sighed. "Like there's missing spots, a bunch of them. And that moon, it just shouldn't be that shape."

"What should it be?" Matthew asked.

"I don't know," Gilbert said. "I'm sure that damn dream does. Maybe chasing after Alfred's dream will bring back the stars…"

"What makes you think that?" Matthew asked. This was getting weirder by the second. For a while, it had just been him and Alfred and he knew how his brother acted. But these two new people had him guessing at every turn. He had no idea what to expect from either of them.

"No fucking clue," Gilbert muttered. "Just a dream, I guess."

"Go back to sleep, Gilbert," Matthew muttered and Gilbert just grunted. There was more movement and everything was quiet again. The forest never let you hear anything other than what was inside it. And it seemed like it was tame tonight. Sometimes, there were screams, from people or animals, of the forest taking more pray. Matthew had never encountered it moving and Alfred had never seen it, but they all knew the stories. That was why they stayed in there, because no one was stupid enough to go in there. Except for the four people in their group.

***Fallen Stars***

"No way," Alfred shook his head.

"You're going to have to trust me," Arthur rolled his eyes, slumping onto a tree stump in front of him.

"I met you yesterday," Alfred crossed his arms over his chest. Matthew stood beside him while Gilbert was lounging against a nearby tree. "I can't trust you. The only one I can fully trust is Mattie."

"What kind of idiot would want to go further in this damn place anyway?" Gilbert scoffed from the tree. "I can't stand even being in it for this long and we're less than a minute from the town."

"Which is exactly why we have to go further," Arthur protested. "As far as those dolts are concerned, I'm stolen property now. So unless you actually want to get killed, then we have to move further!"

"Moving in further will get us killed," Alfred argued. "I trust this forest even less than Gilbert!"

"Aw, I love you two, man," Gilbert smirked and Alfred rolled his eyes. What on Earth made him think that adding people to the group would help anything? This was quickly turning into a train wreck. At least Mattie was cooperating just fine.

"I think we should move further in," Matthew muttered and Alfred's jaw dropped, looking back at his brother, who was simply looking forward blankly.

"Are you crazy?" Alfred snapped.

"Will we actually be any safer?" Matthew asked. "Besides, didn't Arthur say he was a wizard? That means the forest likes him."

"As far as the stories tell us," Alfred rolled his eyes.

"You only know the forest is dangerous from what the stories tell you," Arthur stated. "I come in here most every day and I've gone a lot further than this, without a single bad thing happening to me. Now, if you would just trust me, I can get us through here and even to the town on the other side."

"There's a town on the other side?" Gilbert asked.

"There are quite a few," Arthur nodded. "Like I said, I've gone through this forest many times. As long as you trust me, then we should be fine."

"What the hell," Gilbert shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt. I'm gonna have to get away from this town, too since my guild's gonna be after me now."

"I'm not willing to risk my life on the off-chance that the forest likes Arthur," Alfred protested. "Besides, I'm the leader, so I decide what we're going to do."

"Wait, when the hell were you elected the leader?" Gilbert laughed. "I didn't participate in that vote. If anyone's a leader, it should be my awesomeness!"

"Well, it's my plan and it's my team, so I'm the leader," Alfred said resolutely. It stood to reason. This was his idea and he was the person bringing all of these guys together, so he should be in charge. He didn't care what they had to say, he was in charge.

"I don't think that's an entirely good idea," Arthur sighed. "From what I have seen so far, you are just a child."

"You're not much older," Alfred protested.

"And aren't your years, like, split in half because of your two personalities?" Gilbert grew a wicked grin as Arthur glared sharply at him.

"My age is not of your concern," Arthur spat.

"Weren't we talking about the forest?" Matthew tried to interject quietly but no one heard him.

"Then my age shouldn't be of yours," Alfred said. "All that matters is my experience, and I've been through enough to know what I'm doing."

"Oh, please," Gilbert rolled his eyes. "You haven't been through shit. Try going through what the thieves' guild does and you'll see what it's like to go through something."

"Oh, I've seen what you guys do," Alfred growled and Matthew winced behind him. "And it's nothing I want to be involved in."

"We do more than rape and pillage, dumbass," Gilbert said pointedly. "In case you hadn't noticed, we help make the world go round."

"By ruining it?" Alfred asked.

"By keeping things moving," Gilbert groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. "In case you hadn't noticed, we take the jobs no one else is willing to do."

"For trade."

"For everyone. If those jobs were just left to never be done, nothing would happen. Nothing would move. I don't give a shit what you think of us, but we're doing better than you people in those makeshift towns that don't do anything but sit on their ass, waiting to die."

"We don't sit on our ass, waiting to die!" Alfred yelled. "We fight to survive every day and then people like you come along and just force all of that work to go to waste because we get killed. Not because of starvation or sitting on our asses, but because people that think too highly of themselves come along and think that they can play God and kill us!"

"Do you think I actually like killing people?" Gilbert growled, obviously becoming more angry with every second.

"You're a thief, of course you do," Arthur scoffed.

"I hate every second of it," Gilbert growled. "Most people I know do. We do the jobs that make the world go round so it doesn't stop. So nothing gets worse."

"It's already bad enough," Alfred grumbled.

"And why the fuck do you think I'm staying?" Gilbert snapped. "Because I'm tired of making things stay the same, I want to make them move forward! You're not doing too good of a job so far, maybe I should just try somewhere else, oh wait, everyone else is too busy trying to live, waiting to die."

Alfred was about to argue right back, but something shot by his head, slamming into the tree behind him and everyone went quiet.

"Run further into the forest," Arthur muttered and everyone nodded. Alfred made sure to grab onto Matthew's wrist and they started running. Alfred was barely able to glance back at what had hit the tree and saw an arrow, dug in about halfway to the feathers. As they started running, another one hit a tree just in front of Alfred, making him stumble slightly, but he kept moving forward, almost afraid of what would happen if he dared try to stop.

He clearly saw his other companions in front of him as they swerved through the trees, trying to avoid the near perfect shots of whoever was pursuing them, but the arrows stopped. Alfred didn't pay it much mind, maybe the idiot chasing them had given up.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, however, when a sudden, world-shattering bang sounded off behind them. Searing pain suddenly ripped through Alfred's arm, but he just yelled out and gripped onto his sword, the scar disappearing. Gilbert and Arthur looked back at him.

"I'm fine," Alfred snapped. "Keep moving." Now Alfred made sure that Matthew was in front of him as he ran, making sure that he didn't get hit by whatever the hell that was.

"How the hell did that bastard get gunpowder?" Gilbert asked as they ran through multiple trees in a circle. Another bang echoed and Gilbert tumbled against a tree, leaning heavily away from one of his legs as he screamed in pain.

"Shit," Alfred cursed, hiding behind a tree nearby Gilbert. If he could get close to him, he could use the sword to heal him, but that would require possibly getting shot again and possibly even leaving his brother's side, which he wasn't about to do in this situation.

"Dammit, I have no other choice," Arthur cursed as he hid behind a tree himself, panting heavily from the run. He took a deep breath, closing his bright green eyes. A second later, they opened a darker color and he slouched slightly against the tree.

"That fucking coward can't even run away properly," Arthur smirked and Alfred rolled his eyes, knowing this was the other Arthur, the one he didn't really get along with. "Good thing he called me, looks like you idiots need it."

"He can actually get you to come?" Alfred asked as another loud bang penetrated the air, making him and Matthew jump a lot. Gilbert groaned from his place on the ground and Alfred glanced over at him. "Never mind, I'll ask questions later. Can you help?"

"Of course I can," Arthur scoffed. "I am better at magic that my other personality."

"Just don't kill anyone," Alfred glared at him and Arthur rolled his eyes, but began to move anyway. In a few moments, Arthur had climbed a fair distance up the tree he was behind. He waited there until there was another bang and he smirked.

Without wasting another second, Arthur jumped down from the tree, despite his height from the ground, and gracefully moved his hand, a roaring fire emitting from it and scorching the ground and trees around it. There was another bang and Alfred quickly scrambled over to Gilbert after he made sure that Matthew was secure in his place.

"Fuck, those bullets hit a lot harder than I thought," Gilbert hissed in pain as Alfred kneeled in front of him.

"Do you know what kind of weapon that is?" Alfred asked as he pulled his sword from his sheath.

"What the hell are you gonna do with that?" Gilbert smirked. "Put me out of my misery?"

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you this time," Alfred sighed. He still wasn't quite sure how this sword worked, but he could figure out generally how to help or hurt somebody. All he had to do was have Gilbert touch the sword and he'd be healed. If the thief even twitched to take that sword, Alfred would cause him so much pain, he wouldn't want to get up again. "Just hold onto it."

"I hate my gut that tells me to trust you," Gilbert muttered, moving his hand, covered in blood, to lie on top of the shining metal of the sword Alfred had never had to clean. After a second, his eyes went wide and he looked at his leg. "That sword just gets more attractive by the minute."

"Try and steal it and I'll kill you with it," Alfred threatened, despite the fact that he knew he wouldn't be able to kill anyone. The only person he knew he would able to kill would be the bastard that dared defile his brother.

"That's a gun, that guy's got," Gilbert sighed, glancing over at Arthur, who seemed to be having the time of his life making the forest burn to a crisp over there. Thankfully, it didn't look like the fire was about to spread anywhere close to them. "It's the most powerful handheld weapon I've seen, but I've never been able to hold one, let alone use it."

"Do you know how it works?" Alfred asked, his hand moving to rub at his arm that got hit by this gun.

"They've got metal things inside it called bullets," Gilbert sighed, standing up and brushing himself off. Alfred quickly went over to Matthew, who was breathing deeply, but seemed to be fine. Alfred helped him stand up and looked back at the fire. He could see two people in the fire with Arthur, but he couldn't see anything about them. "A hammer inside it hits this thing called gunpowder, which basically explodes and it sends the bullets flying. That's what hits you when you're on the wrong end of it."

"So it's long range, like a bow?" Alfred asked, trying to see through the smoke that didn't reach him to find the people Arthur was having the time of his life fighting.

"Pretty much," Gilbert nodded. "Is that crazy bastard really having that much fun? The man's insane."

"I've learned to stop trying to understand any of this," Alfred groaned.

Suddenly, a little girl's scream pierced the air and the three of them froze.

"Shit, Arthur, don't you dare," Alfred groaned as he ran into the fire without a second thought, leaving Gilbert to take care of Matthew. Which, in hindsight, wasn't the best idea, but he would live with that later. He couldn't allow Arthur to hurt a little girl, no matter if she had a gun or not. "Arthur!"

"Don't get your heroic panties in a twist," Arthur groaned behind him and Alfred twirled around to see him holding a little girl by the hood of her cloak. She was fighting back so much that Alfred couldn't get a good look at her through all of this smoke. "If I even tried to hurt her, the other version of me would stop it. His damn conscience always gets in the way."

"I think that's a good thing," Alfred sighed, putting his sword back in its sheath. He was about to get the girl out of Arthur's grasp to calm her down, after all a child should never be left alone to be scared, when another person interrupted them.

"If you dare touch her with your filthy hands, it will be the last thing you do," the voice threatened and Arthur groaned, rolling his eyes.

Before Alfred could even say anything, Arthur shoved the girl into his arms and he disappeared with inhuman speed. Alfred could barely see him appear in front of the man with what Alfred supposed was a gun before taking it with such force that the man actually released it. Arthur pointed the object right at the man's face and pulled a trigger in it without a second thought.

The girl in Alfred's arms screamed.

*****Fallen Stars*****

**I had so much trouble deciding who would be introduced this time and I am actually very happy with who I chose. If you don't know who it is this chapter, then you'll know who it is next chapter. Hehehe, I'm so mean. Anyway, I'm writing this author's note while watching Beauty and the Beast and while tired, so I don't have anything very interesting to say.**

**Please review and I'll see you next chapter.**


	5. Family

**Family is not an important thing. It's everything.**

**-Michael J. Fox**

*****Fallen Stars*****

"Tread lightly," he advised his little sister.

"I know, it's fine," she smiled back at him, her bow slung over her back with her quiver of arrows. He eyed it carefully, deciding that he would need to make more soon. Just like he would have to make more bullets for the rifle in his hands.

"I'm just nervous in here, is all," he said, looking around the enchanted forest. He never trusted magic, ever since wizards and witches killed his entire family, and his little sister's. They weren't related, but they were close enough so that it didn't matter. They also looked extremely alike, especially after she cut her hair to look like his.

His name was Vash and he had fairly long, blonde hair, for a guy at least. One of the only traits he shared with his sister was their eyes. They were a bright green that didn't fit into any forest and always attracted attention in any town. Evidently, the only reasons the witches and wizards didn't kill them was merely after looking into their eyes. They supposedly held magic, but Vash swore he would never use it.

His sister's name was Lili, and she had the same length, dark blonde hair. She was probably the most sweet and innocent person Vash had ever met and he fully intended to keep her that way. He only taught her how to use a bow to protect herself. Not like she really needed any teaching, it was like she'd already mastered it before. She was smart and stuck close to Vash.

They were walking through an enchanted forest to get to where they had set up camp. They'd only left it for a few minutes, but Vash was on edge about it. No one was stupid enough to go into the forest without being well prepared or being an idiot, like himself. He stopped in his tracks and Lili followed suit shortly after as he heard voices.

Vash ducked them both behind a tree immediately and Lili stayed quiet, putting on a brave face despite the fact that she was shaking. Vash gritted his teeth and found that he couldn't hear their conversation, they were too far away. They were directly in the way of the only route Vash knew through this forest to get to their supplies. They may be meager, but there were supplies to make arrows and bullets, which he would need soon, he was already running low.

"We need to get them out of our way," he whispered, looking at Lili, who nodded and moved her bow off her shoulder. They were trying to be stealthy now, so they couldn't use the gun to scare them away. No one could see them. Lili stepped out of the tree, poising the arrow and taking a deep breath. She always looked so serious and wise beyond her years while she was shooting an arrow. Vash always hated that.

He looked over the side of the tree to barely see the group of men calmly talking in the forest as if they weren't constantly in danger from the magic around them. Lili shot the arrow and it hit dead-on into a tree, so deep that there was no way he'd be getting it back. Vash felt his stomach drop as he watched them run. Right towards their supplies.

"Turn them around," Vash ordered as they started moving. Lili pulled out another arrow and poised it while running, a skill Vash had no idea how she'd mastered, but it came in handy. She fired again, right in front of one of the people's heads, but they kept running in the same direction.

"Damn," Vash cursed and readied his gun. Lili continued to shoot arrows until she made a panicked noise, signifying that she was out.

Vash cursed under his breath again, hoping Lili wouldn't hear him and aimed his gun. He would try not to shoot them directly, so that they would die, but he had to get them to stop where they were. Luckily, he'd made this gun so that he would only have to load it once. Then again, he was also low on bullets.

Vash fired and the group of men panicked. He narrowed his eyes. He could have sworn that he had hit that man's arm, but he looked fine just a moment after. Vash growled as they continued to run and cocked his gun before shooting it at a different person. This one tumbled to the ground at the wound in his leg. The four ducked behind some trees and Vash ensured they did the same. He cocked his gun again. He just needed them to turn, that was all.

After a short while, he tried firing again, but they didn't even move. He was wasting his bullets. Suddenly, one of the idiots began to climb the tree he was hiding behind. Vash cocked the gun and waited patiently for the man to be in the perfect place on the tree. When he was, he aimed just to the side of his leg, enough to scare him away, and fired.

Oddly enough, the man didn't even twitch, all he did was catch eyes directly with Vash.

"I need you to move now!" Vash ordered as the man jumped down and caused a forest fire with just a swipe of his hand. Vash shot again, but he quickly couldn't see anything through the smoke and flames.

Lili had managed to run somewhere, in the opposite direction of the wizard and Vash gritted his teeth. He hadn't realized it, but he was completely out of bullets. All he could do was wave the gun around in hopes that the wizard would get the hell out of his way. Vash nearly jumped out of his skin, however, when he saw the man, who had a grin that could put the devil to shame on his face, appear just a few feet away from him and he scrambled away, but still held the gun right at the man's head, but he just laughed. The wizard swiped his hand elegantly once again and more fire burst out. Vash rolled to the side to avoid getting caught by it and, when he looked up, the wizard was gone.

Vash cursed and immediately set out to find Lili, the smoke catching his breath. He just had to hope that the other people with the wizard didn't have any way to fight long range and then he and Lili would most likely be fine. He would just have to find her before that bastard of a wizard did.

His hopes were crushed, however, when he heard her scream and he stopped for a short while before running in her direction. The smoke was clear around the wizard bastard holding onto her and he was talking to his partner. He was about to hold onto Lili and Vash only thought of one thing; to point the gun at him.

"If you dare touch her with your filthy hands, it will be the last thing you do," Vash threatened and the wizard rolled his eyes before shoving Lili into the arms of his accomplice and disappearing. He reappeared just inches from Vash's face and ripped the gun out of his grasp before pointing it right at Vash's head and pulling the trigger. Lili screamed and he winced, wishing that she knew he would be fine and that the gun didn't even have a bullet in it.

"I know what a loaded gun feels like," the wizard scoffed half-heartedly before stumbling backwards, the gun clattering to the ground as he fell against a tree. Vash tried to catch his breath as the wizard's accomplice started yelling at him. Lili stared at him with tear filled eyes and that was all that mattered. She didn't have a single burn on her and the man holding her hadn't even unsheathed his sword, which meant he didn't want to hurt her. Whoever these people were, they were different from everyone else.

***Fallen Stars***

Alfred was still trying to get to grips with reality as he saw Arthur pull the gun from that man's face. He muttered something before dropping the gun and stumbling backwards, into a tree. The girl in Alfred's arms was crying, and his brain was too scattered to think properly.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Alfred snapped at Arthur, who was shaking his head and holding onto it. "You could have killed him!"

"He didn't, relax," Arthur muttered, glaring at the ground. Alfred looked over at the man just as he dropped to his knees, looking right at the little girl. With a sigh, Alfred let her go and she stumbled to the man. They hugged and cried, even though the man was doing his best to hide it. "If we stood any chance I knew we needed him, but I just didn't think he would go that far."

"How well can you control moving between the personalities?" Alfred asked, making sure the two didn't move. Gilbert and Matthew stood beside them, Matthew standing close to Gilbert which made Alfred glare at them. If they could find some way to control the two personalities, they would be far better off.

"I can make him show up, that's the extent of it," Arthur sighed, glaring at the ground as he unceremoniously slumped onto it.

"What do you want?" the man finally asked, making sure that the girl stayed behind him as he glared at Alfred and Arthur in turn, hardly noticing the other two.

"You were the one that attacked us first," Alfred stated. The man was quiet for a few moments afterward, looking at his forgotten gun and Alfred still had no idea how it hadn't fired, despite the fact that it definitely should have. "We won't hurt you as long as you don't hurt us."

"Sure you can get that wizard to agree it that?" the man muttered angrily and Arthur winced.

"Hey, we've all got bad memories of the past," Alfred shrugged, kneeling down where he was to get on the same level of that man. He was different, too. He cared about protecting that one little girl and it didn't even seem like he was trying to kill them when he was going after them. "Like, I have this thing against thieves, and here I am travelling with one and trusting him with my brother."

The man looked over to Gilbert and Matthew and then back to the ground.

"You don't have to listen to me, but I've got this plan and I need as much help as I can get." Alfred explained his plan to the man, who gave him an interested look part way through and the girl behind him smiled slightly. When Alfred finished, the man looked back at the girl and they had a hushed conversation while Alfred waited patiently, sitting on the ground. No one said anything. After all, that man could easily pick that gun back up and kill them all if he really wanted to.

"We'll go with you," the man sighed, looking at Alfred right in the eyes, "but that doesn't mean I trust you, got it? If any of you, especially that wizard, make a wrong move, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"That's a little intense coming from someone who was aiming at legs," Gilbert snorted, finally speaking up. "Which was definitely not awesome, by the way."

"How do you not have any injuries?" the girl asked curiously, her high-pitched voice soothing the tense air slightly.

"Enchanted sword," Alfred sighed. "Long story, I don't even understand it myself." Alfred gave them a smile before standing up and walking up to the man, holding out a hand for him to take. The man looked at it for a while, glancing at his gun, before standing up on his own merit and the girl took his lead. Alfred retracted his hand and glanced at Arthur, who was looking up at the clear sky through the trees.

Everything was calm again. It was like the fire had never existed and even the air was clear of any ashes or smoke. Alfred assumed that was due to either the forest or Arthur himself, but he wasn't about to ask anyone. He just wanted things to stay peaceful for a few minutes for once in his life.

"We should get moving if we want to get anywhere before nightfall," Gilbert sighed, looking further into the forest. "I don't want to spend another night in this forest."

"Well, I'm not spending a night in a town," Alfred said pointedly.

"We have some supplies," the man stated, standing up. "That was why I was shooting at you, to get you to go in another direction."

"Then you wasted your bullets," Gilbert laughed. Alfred noticed that he was a lot more relaxed now, since he could tell that they weren't anywhere close to danger anymore. Just like any thief. Why was his brother standing so close to him? It was almost like he trusted him, which Alfred was sure Matthew would never do. Especially with a thief. Dragon rider or not.

"I'm Alfred, by the way," Alfred introduced himself as the man started to lead the way, his gun held tightly in his hands. Arthur stood up to follow them. "And my twin over there is Matthew."

"My whole name is The Awesome Gilbert, but I guess I'll just let you call me The Awesome, for short," Gilbert smirked happily, walking with his hands laced behind his head. The man just scoffed, though the girl with him giggled happily.

"Arthur," Arthur muttered, looking away from the man, who seemed to want to have nothing to do with him. This guy had a thing with wizards and he would need to get his trust as quickly as possible. Which would be rather hard, considering the fact that Arthur had two personalities.

"My name is Vash," the man stated and looked at the girl. "This is Lili."

"It's very nice to meet you," Lili nodded politely, her bow slung over her shoulder with her quiver on the other side. "It's so great to meet nice people."

"Thanks," Alfred smiled to her and she smiled back, though Vash scowled. "So, have you guys been going anywhere specifically?"

"We are just trying to live," Vash said and Alfred nodded. "I don't care where we go, as long as Lili will be safe."

"No guarantee of that in this world," Gilbert scoffed. Alfred sighed and looked over at Arthur, who appeared to be deep in thought. Matthew, meanwhile was walking with his hand just in front of him, in case he hit any kind of tree. Alfred did pout, however, when he saw Gilbert nudge Matthew to the side so that he wouldn't hit a tree. He should be doing that.

"So, Mattie," Alfred said proudly, moving over to his brother and looping an arm around his shoulders. Matthew jumped slightly, but smiled lightly at Alfred. Even he was thinking brighter, which was amazing. "Yesterday, you were doubting how many people we would get and, look at that, we've got four more people!"

"Yeah, it's great," Matthew nodded, but his voice was still quiet. "If this keeps up, we're in luck."

"You know, technically, you got five recruits," Gilbert shrugged, walking around a rather large tree. "Since our little wizard is two people." Arthur sent him a glare, which Gilbert took with a grin.

"Then I have even less reason to trust you," Vash stated gruffly before stopping out of nowhere. Alfred stopped walking and looked over at them, trying to figure out what was going on. Vash then knelt down and swept his hands over some leaves, revealing what looked like a bag.

"Whoa, I would never have seen that," Alfred blinked.

"Classic trick," Gilbert shrugged. "It's called camouflage, if you were curious. I use it all the time when I'm out doing shit."

"So, you are a thief?" Vash asked as he produced three bags out of his camouflage, glancing back at Gilbert.

"Former thief," Gilbert shrugged. "I left, which means I've got a giant-ass target over my head."

"And you think it's safe to keep him around?" Vash glared at Alfred before turning back to his bags. He put the two smaller ones inside of one, larger one before standing up and slinging them over his shoulder, his gun doing the same over a strap.

"We can all take care of ourselves pretty well," Alfred shrugged, smiling slightly. "And we can protect each other. I'm sure we'll be fine. After all, my brother and I have been fine on our own for a few months."

"Try a few years," Vash stated gruffly.

"We should get moving to the next town," Arthur sighed. "Gilbert is right about not wanting to stay in the forest. It won't like us to be in it for too long, so we best sleep out of it tonight. Especially after what my other self did."

"At least you can feel remorse," Vash muttered. Alfred let out a small sigh and followed Arthur as he lead the way to the nearest town. Gilbert calmly walked beside Alfred and Vash was behind them.

Next to Matthew, in the back, was Lili, who started striking up a conversation about nothing in particular.

"So, how long have you been going on this adventure with your brother?" she asked sweetly and Matthew looked a little surprised that she was there.

"Um, a few months, I think," Matthew responded, smiling slightly at her. "I've lost track, we've been around so much."

"Don't you think the forest looks so pretty?" Lili asked, looking at the lush greenery that Matthew couldn't see.

"Yeah, I guess so," Matthew's smile softened, looking in her general direction. She frowned slightly after trying to catch his eye before she nodded and continued to walk.

"Do you have a favorite food, Matthew?" she asked and Alfred couldn't stop himself from smiling. She moved right on from sight to something else after figuring out that Matthew was blind.

"I haven't had much a variety," Matthew chuckled. "I eat a lot of the fruit that the forest gives me, but there were a few times when our mother would cook us rabbit and I think that was my favorite."

"I really like cheese," Lili said. "I've only had it once, and big brother had to steal it, but it was really delicious."

"I've never had cheese before," Matthew mused. "Doesn't that come from milk?"

Lili nodded vigorously before her eyes widened and she spoke instead. "Yeah. And that comes from a cow. I've seen one be milked before, it's really interesting."

Alfred laughed slightly to himself and noticed the rest of the group smiling slightly. It was good to know that, in times like this, it was still possible to strike up a conversation about nothing in particular. To act like everything was calm and peaceful for a moment.

*****Fallen Stars*****

**Lili is such a sweetheart, I love her. I am going to use her innocence to the fullest, trust me. And Vash is just adorable when it comes to protecting her. I like these two characters, despite never writing them before. I do hope I am doing them justice, but you'll have to tell me that. Anyway, we've got two more people. I'm trying not to make there be a new introduction in every chapter, but it's a little hard, considering all of the characters and lack of plot planned for the parts in-between the character introductions. If all goes as planned, honestly, another new character will be introduced next chapter…**

**Anyway, friendly reminder about that contest! No one's guessed it yet!**

**And please review! It means the world to me!**


	6. Friends

**True friends stab you in the front.  
-Oscar Wilde**

*****Fallen Stars*****

Gilbert was trying to sleep, he really was. It was always hard for him to get to sleep and, every time he successfully managed it, he had that nightmare. There was no way around it. He never remembered it or what it was even about, but he knew that he always had it. And he knew that it started the day his little brother was born.

It had been a few days since he'd joined the group that was attempting world peace and nothing really happened. The forest had emitted screams on the day that Arthur had suggested they didn't sleep in it, so it was a good thing they didn't die. And he hadn't seen anyone from his old guild, which was also good. There was a very good chance that he would die shortly after one of them saw him. There were a few that would kill themselves if it meant they could keep the money.

Currently, they were back in the forest, and Gilbert was attempting to keep his eyes closed so that he could go to sleep, but that was turning out to be harder than he anticipated. And then there was that sudden rustling. Gilbert kept his eyes closed just in case it was a thief, like he knew it would be. If they knew he was awake, this would just turn out worse. Matthew was sleeping fairly close by while Vash and Lili were sleeping on the other side of where their fire had been. Alfred was snoring against a tree and Arthur was keeping watch. Then again, the only person that could really catch a thief was a thief.

A thousand possibilities ran through Gilbert's mind to figure out something to do. Depending on who it was that was sneaking around, if Gilbert made any indication of their presence, they would kill everyone around. Maybe they'd already killed Arthur. No…that prostitute would never let himself be killed, at least not without a fight.

The person got closer and Gilbert thought of where he'd placed his sword. It was between him and Matthew, to the point where it would be painfully obvious when he went for it. He would have to wait for this thief to get closer, then he would just have to hope he was quicker. If this was from his own thieves' guild, then there were plenty of people faster than him, but also plenty slower than him. Considering how loud this one was, he should be slower, or maybe the same speed…

Gilbert waited until the quiet footsteps were just one step away and he dove for his sword. Sadly, this person was faster and a foot slammed onto his wrist, not hard enough to brake it oddly enough, and Gilbert silently cried out in pain. The thief turned him onto his back and his legs straddled him on either side, his hands on Gilbert's arms to keep him still. And that was when Gilbert got a glimpse at the man's face in the moonlight.

"Shit," Gilbert cursed under his breath. He knew this man all too well. Long, blonde hair that had immaculate care that should have been impossible and dark blue eyes, like stormy waters, and that damn stubble that he always kept permanently on his chin. It was Francis.

"I am sorry," Francis muttered. In the guild, they had been very close friends, but once you left that guild, everything changed. Everyone in there was trained to kill, even harmless looking ones like Franny.

"Guess I should be happy it's just you," Gilbert smirked and Francis sighed. They both talked quietly in hopes that no one else would wake up. "You afraid to pull your weapon on me?"

"You know that if I really wanted to kill you, I would have hit you with my bow earlier today," Francis shook his head.

"You have to kill me if you want to go back there," Gilbert said and Francis nodded. "So what is it, your dagger?"

"Yes," Francis sighed.

"Then pull it out and get it over with," Gilbert stated. He wasn't about to let himself get killed, of course, he would fight back as much as he could. In this situation, one of them was going to walk away dead. Gilbert just wished that it had been someone else from the guild.

"Gilbert?" Matthew muttered, turning over slightly in his sleep. Francis' eyes grew wide, his hand immediately going to his waist, where Gilbert could see his dagger glinting in the moonlight. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Birdie," Gilbert said nonchalantly. "Just talking to myself. Go back to sleep."

Matthew nodded contently and turned onto his back. Both men waited until his breathing evened out again.

"Blind?" Francis asked and Gilbert nodded. "What have you been doing?"

"That's not a part of this job, Francis," Gilbert had to force himself not to say his nickname. That would just make this harder.

"You're right," Francis sighed and now pulled out the dagger, shakily poising it on Gilbert's neck. The time to fight back would be now or never. Gilbert glanced at the sky through the trees and saw just the beginnings of dawn sprawl over the night sky. The stars were still completely in view. In a second, he was mesmerized. The stars twinkled, as if calling out to him, the empty spaces looking like black holes.

And then everything went black.

***Fallen Stars***

"Gilbert!" a voice shouted. It was not a voice that Alfred knew and so he shot awake, looking through the murky darkness of night at the direction of the voice. It was relatively close to where Matthew was sleeping. There was a blob in the darkness that quickly morphed to look like a human and he was shaking.

The closer Alfred looked, though, the more he saw. There was another person…Gilbert. The man was shaking because Gilbert was, violently. The man looked like he was trying to hold him down, but it wasn't working well.

"Who the hell are you?!" Alfred snapped. The man looked like a thief, maybe he did this on purpose. There were all kinds of people in thieves' guilds.

"Don't ask questions!" the man snapped at him and now more people were awake. "Just help Gilbert!"

"What's going on?" Matthew asked.

Alfred gritted his teeth. He didn't want to trust a thief, especially in a situation like this, but something was definitely wrong with Gilbert. He was on his team now, thief or not, and he had to take care of him.

"What do I have to do?" Alfred asked, quickly making his way next to the man.

"Help me hold him down," the man ordered, holding onto one of Gilbert's arms and Alfred did the same.

"Vash! Lili!" Alfred looked over to the other two that he knew were awake. "Take his legs!"

"You trust a thief to give you orders?" Vash asked, though he and Lili did come over and helped. Gilbert was shaking violently, though Alfred noticed that he was looking directly at the sky, not even blinking once. This was like last time, when Arthur was holding him upside down by that branch the first day they met. That was the whole reason they dropped him, because he started convulsing, but it stopped the second he hit the ground.

"Just go with it," Alfred stated.

"What is going on?" Matthew asked shakily.

"Gilbert's shaking again," Alfred said.

"This has already happened again?" the man looked up at him with panic in his dark blue eyes. Alfred narrowed his eyes at him, who was this guy? And was he close with Gilbert? What was really going on here?

"We can talk after everything's calmed down," Alfred growled.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Arthur snapped, running up to them.

"Help hold him down," the man ordered and Arthur blinked, looking at the others. Alfred nodded to him and Arthur moved over to them, helping force Gilbert's chest to the ground.

"If someone is having a seizure, I thought you couldn't hold them down," Arthur stated as Gilbert finally started calming down, just trembling slightly now.

"This is entirely different," the man sighed, slowly letting go of Gilbert. "He's had these for years. They are like dreams, but his body reacts violently to them. After he wakes up, he will never remember what happened."

"How do you know so much about him?" Alfred asked, stepping back from Gilbert. He'd noticed that Gilbert wasn't breathing as Arthur removed his hands as well.

"We were in a thieves' guild together," the man said slowly. "I came to kill him, but I can't."

"You had a chance to kill us while we were all asleep," Alfred said slowly. "Why didn't you take that chance?"

"I have never been much of a killer," the man sighed. Gilbert suddenly gasped for air, his trembling stopping altogether. The man looked sadly down at him. The sun was high enough now that everything was growing lighter.

"Why the hell is everyone awake?" Gilbert asked, looking around. "I blacked out again, huh?"

"Yes," the man nodded, looking down at him. Alfred watched as Gilbert locked eyes with him before diving for his sword, right next to Matthew. He held it in both hands, still sheathed, staring at the man. "I cannot kill you, my friend."

"Good," Gilbert smirked slightly. "That makes two of us."

"Who the hell are you?" Vash demanded and the man chuckled slightly as Gilbert dropped his sword onto the ground.

"My name is Francis," the man said with a slight bow, standing up. The whole group stood with him and Alfred put a hand onto his own sword to ensure that he had it just in case. He moved in front of his brother, who tentatively touched his back. This man had a bow and quiver on his back as well as a dagger that was now on the ground and he was a thief. He could decide to kill at any moment.

"Don't worry, you can trust him," Gilbert smirked, walking over and looping an arm around Francis' shoulders. "If he didn't kill any of you when he had the chance, he won't do it now."

"I don't trust him," Arthur said, looking the new thief up and down.

"I haven't fully trusted anyone in our group except my brother," Alfred stated. He still didn't trust Arthur's other personality at all. Vash was only concerned about Lili's safety, so he could turn at any moment. And Gilbert was a thief that could have easily been pretending to leave his guild in order to kill them. Francis would be no different. But he had yet to prove that he had a good motive, one that would make Alfred want him on his team. Gilbert had been nice to Matthew, Arthur knew that he was different, Vash cared about his sister, and Lili was just innocent. "Give me a reason to not kill you right now."

"Other than the fact that I know you cannot kill me?" Francis smirked and Alfred growled. "I didn't kill anyone. The only person who knew I was here was Gilbert and I could have easily kill him and then your blind brother, who had woken up during this."

"Are you willing to leave your guild?" Matthew asked quietly from behind Alfred and he nodded. That was a good test. Gilbert was willing to leave his guild for Alfred's stupid ideals. If Francis couldn't, then he could never be trusted. Sure, Alfred couldn't kill him, but he could dump him with a couple of thieves that could do what they wanted with him.

"For what, exactly?" Francis asked, looking to Gilbert. "You will have to explain to me what this group is doing."

"Trying to turn this world into something a little less than Hell," Gilbert explained with a shrug. "Seemed like a good idea to me."

"What do you think you will do?" Francis laughed, looking at Alfred.

"Depends how many people I can get," Alfred shrugged. "I know we're useless as a small group, but if we have something as big as a thieves' guild on our side, then we might be able to make a dent in something."

"Out of curiosity," Francis said. "What happens if I refuse?"

"I'll shoot you," Vash stated and Francis jumped, looking over at him with his rifle in hand.

"Where did you get that?" Francis laughed nervously.

"There's some pretty nice pieces here, trust me," Gilbert laughed and Alfred saw him eye his sword.

"If you even try touching this sword, it will kill you," Alfred warned both of them.

"What a shame," Francis sighed. "It is very beautiful."

"We don't need more than one idiot on this team," Arthur scoffed, leaning against a nearby tree and looking through the forest.

"You wound me, my dear!" Francis sighed loudly. "I figured, since you were a wizard, we would get along well!"

"Do not assume things based on my race!" Arthur snapped.

"Oh, yeah, before we forget this," Gilbert laughed. "Franny here has the ability to boost magic. No idea how he does it, but he doesn't even have to try, he just has to be there and it gets more powerful. Forests always love him."

"And I can shoot a bow fairly well," Francis shrugged happily.

"This isn't for me to decide if we want you," Alfred stated. "If it was up to me, I'd leave you here right now. Besides, we already have someone with a bow." It was thanks to Lili that they got most of their hunted food. "This is about if you are going to join the team. That's how I'll decide if I can trust you. Are you willing to leave your guild?"

"That serious face does not suit your eyes," Francis sighed dramatically. "It is such a shame, they are gorgeous, nothing I have seen before."

"Quit stalling," Vash snapped.

"Yes," Francis said without any hesitation.

"Let's get moving," Alfred stated, turning towards the forest. "You said the next town was this way, right Arthur?"

"Yeah," Arthur sighed. "Hm? Who's this new person? Did you induct another person without my knowledge, Alfred?"

"Look who's come out to play," Gilbert laughed and Alfred sighed. At least this Arthur had a new person to harass. It was getting more and more obvious that he enjoyed being a prostitute more than he let on, which he frequently talked about how much he missed it.

"So this is that prostitute you were meant to kill," Francis chuckled and Alfred sighed, leaning against a nearby tree. Arthur was smirking, looking at the man as if he was sizing him up.

"That idiot could never kill me properly," Arthur laughed. "So, who, exactly, are you?"

"My name is Francis," he nodded to Arthur before kneeling down to pick up his dagger. "I was formerly a thief."

"It's good to see that not everyone in this bloody group is going to be innocent," Arthur sighed, looking at Francis with hungry eyes. "You can boost magic, can't you?"

"Your other personality did not appear to enjoy that," Francis smirked.

"Jeez, get a fucking room," Gilbert rolled his eyes, walking away.

"I would be more than happy to," Arthur smirked before forcefully pulling Francis into a kiss. Alfred stiffened slightly before looking away. The image of Arthur kissing another man bothered him more than it should have. "Unlike my more idiotic personality, I'm rather attracted to power."

"Shut up you two," Vash growled. "We should get moving."

"If you two are going to be like this the whole time," Gilbert groaned and they started to walk and Alfred led them, "then I'm going to regret not kill you."

"Which one?" Francis laughed.

"Both of you," Gilbert stated.

"Alfred," Matthew muttered, walking quickly to catch up with Alfred.

"Yeah?" Alfred asked.

"Are you really sure this is all a good idea?" Matthew asked quietly, keeping his hands in front of him to help him walk. "Getting people together? We don't know how they'll all mix."

"We need as many people as we can get," Alfred reasoned. "They may not get along…or get along too well, but we have to work with it. I'm going to keep that promise I made to you."

"How do you expect mere people to fix anything?" Matthew muttered.

"We're not just people, dude," Alfred flashed his best, hero smile, even though Matthew couldn't see it. "Gilbert's a dragon rider, both Arthurs are powerful wizards, Vash has gunpowder, Lili can shoot arrows better than any guy I've seen, I'm sure Francis has some kind of redeeming quality, you've risen over things that should have made it impossible for you to live in this world. If we keep getting people like this, then there's no way we're going to lose when the time comes."

"You're talking about what we're going against like it's a person or an army," Matthew sighed. "The fact of the matter is, we're fighting against Fate and the world."

"No matter what it is," Alfred stated, "we'll beat it. Trust me, bro. I'm a hero, we don't break our promises."

"Damn," Gilbert muttered and Alfred finally paid attention to what was in front of him. The second he saw it, he immediately moved Matthew behind a tree.

"Shit," Alfred cursed under his breath. This was bad, this was very, very bad.

"Looks like he can't look at a map worth shit," Arthur scoffed, stationed behind a tree with Francis.

"Oh, I wouldn't trust you with a map either," Alfred argued and Arthur glared at him.

"Wait, what is it?" Matthew asked.

"It's a manor," Vash stated, holding Lili in front of him as he looked around his tree. Alfred looked again as well.

It was huge, at least big enough for 3 stories and made completely out of stone. There was no gate around it, which made Alfred wonder if they'd passed something like it. If they were on a landowner's land, they were completely fucked. It didn't look like there was any other person around to work the land. There was no farming, either, this was all in the forest. If this person wanted to keep safe from thieves, they had to have something.

"Francis, do you think this is…_that_ house?" Gilbert asked.

"It is a very high possibility," Francis nodded.

"Wait, what house?" Alfred snapped. "What the hell is this place?"

"This might be the Winter Manor," Gilbert sighed. "The owner's a fucking creep, I've done a job for him once. He doesn't have a single person working for him except his sister, who's even more of a creep. If it is Winter Manor, we're gonna have to get the hell out of here as soon as possible."

"If it's the Winter Manor, then we have one other problem," Francis reminded him. "His sister's spell."

"I think I'm sensing something, but it's not very strong," Arthur muttered. "Having you here probably doesn't help anything. The little bitch is casting a sleeping spell."

"Sleeping spell?" Vash asked, holding onto Lili tighter.

"It's a defense mechanism," Gilbert sighed. "He doesn't have walls. This is Winter Manor."

"What do we do?" Alfred asked. He wasn't feeling tired yet, was the sleeping spell really working?

"We've already fallen prey to it," Arthur growled. "There's no way to stop it now."

"Think they're gonna kill us?" Gilbert asked.

"Ivan does whatever he wants, he doesn't need a reason," Francis sighed. "Should we try to run?"

"If you want to fall asleep faster," Arthur snapped.

Alfred noticed that Matthew was starting to hyperventilate and he held him closer.

"It's okay, Mattie," Alfred said. "I won't let anything hurt you. I promised you, didn't I? You're going to wake up, just fine."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Arthur scoffed.

"Shut the hell up," Alfred snapped.

"Alfred," Matthew muttered. "What if-"

"Don't think like that," Alfred stated. "I know you will be fine." Finally, Alfred felt the fatigue hit him just as Lili fell limp in Vash's arms. "We all will be. We're strong, right?"

"I really fucking hope I don't have to deal with that dream once I'm out," Gilbert grumbled. Alfred glanced around his tree to see if he could see anyone coming out of the house. He couldn't see a single person.

"Just so we are clear," Arthur sighed as Matthew's eyes began to droop, "this was my other personality's fault."

"Of course you need to blame someone," Alfred rolled his eyes and Matthew fell in his arms. Alfred knelt down, leaning against the tree as he yawned. "If I fall asleep first, you have to promise you won't try anything on me."

"Don't flatter yourself," Arthur scoffed. "You were never interesting to me. The other Arthur, on the other hand…" Alfred tuned him out as he closed his eyes, leaning back fully against the tree.

*****Fallen Stars*****

**What are endings? I don't know…. I needed more things there at the end, so I shoved a little more in there and I hope it's good, since I didn't want in here in the first place. It was going to happen anyway, so don't worry. And now Francis is here! Yay! And now we know that Ivan is coming into the picture, how interesting. What is he doing? And what is going on between Arthur and Francis? Well…that's just Arthur's prostitute coming out.**

**Oh! And one thing, I would like to give a special thanks to a guest reviewer, Iggy Butt, I should have said it sooner, but oh well. I really appreciate your reviews and the constructive criticism you give me, no matter how small. You pointed out something last chapter that made me realize what this story needed to pick up, so thanks for that! Not to worry, actual plot will probably appear in about chapter 8 or 9.**

**Anyway, please review! It's awesome!**


	7. Character

**A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.  
-Mark Twain**

*****Fallen Stars*****

Matthew was woken up when he felt himself be moved slightly. He immediately opened his eyes and attempted to roll out of the person's grip, whoever they were. He hardly remembered falling asleep, but he wasn't about to allow being drowsy let something bad happen to him.

"He's already awake?" a woman scoffed as Matthew's hands were roughly pulled behind his back. "How quickly will the others wake, then?"

"I have faith in your magic, sister," a man stated just behind Matthew and he felt his blood run cold. His hands were pinned behind him and a man was back there, too. His mind immediately went to the memories of his past and he practically shut down. "Hm? Something is wrong with this one."

"Alfred!" Matthew screamed. They were still in the forest, that meant he must at least be close. His brother made a promise to him him that nothing bad would happen to him and he better damn well keep it.

"They cannot hear you, they are asleep," the man said softly and Matthew almost felt himself begin to cry. He forced the tears back, that was at least one thing he could do. "Are you blind?"

Matthew didn't answer. Instead, he moved to get out of the grip of the man, which seemed to have softened, though it didn't appear to be enough to get him to let go.

"Alfred!" Matthew tried again. If they were asleep, they could be woken up. "Gilbert! Arthur! Vash! Francis!"

"You are blind," the man muttered. "Sister."

"Really? Him?" the woman scoffed as Matthew continued to fight back tears, his breaths coming in fast now. Was he going to be taken from his brother? This man was obviously stronger than him and in a better position. Matthew wouldn't stand a chance, especially since he couldn't see anything. "I trust your judgment."

"Good," the man sighed and Matthew was raised to his feet. "Do not worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

Matthew just screamed and tried again to get away, but his hands were pinned and he couldn't get anywhere. This was beginning to feel like a repeat of…that day. He fought as hard as he could to keep the tears back as he fought back more. The man placed a hand on his shoulder, calmly, oddly enough, and Matthew began to be lead somewhere.

"Quit fighting, twerp," the woman said coldly and Matthew whimpered slightly. All of a sudden, the terrain beneath their feet turned from grass to stone and Matthew's panic grew. He attempted to attack the man's legs behind him, but even as he hit him several times, nothing worked. It was only when Matthew heard the door close that he really started to panic.

"You will be safe here, don't worry," the man said calmly. Matthew gritted his teeth and kicked back, as hard as he could. He knew he hit something when the man groaned in pain and let him go. Matthew immediately tried to dart towards where he had heard the door close, but he was soon tackled to the ground and turned onto his back.

"How dare you try to hurt my brother!" the woman screamed at him and Matthew froze in fear. She sounded terrifying and Matthew was sort of thankful that he couldn't see her. "I will make you pay!"

"Natalia," the man said and the woman stopped. "He is scared, it's fine."

"But he-"

"Natalia." The woman let out a sigh and she moved off of Matthew, who quickly sat upright and braced himself for anything else that might happen. This man was interesting, to say the least, but he couldn't judge anything based off of words alone. He wished he could see their actions. "Now," Matthew jumped when the man's voice was very close to him. "I promise, you will be safe here."

"Why would you take me?" Matthew asked quietly. He couldn't count on the answer to be truthful, but he would at least be able to gauge this man's personality.

"You are blind," the man stated.

"I don't need your sympathy," Matthew sighed. That was generally all he got when people find out that he's blind. They feel bad for him or they just take advantage of it. His own brother was constantly over protective. The only person that really acted normally around him was Gilbert, for which he was thankful for.

"The forest is dangerous, I know that all too well," the man said softly. "I just want to help you."

"What about the people I was with?" Matthew asked. His brother could very well be out there, alone, and asleep. Anything could happen to anyone in their group.

"They trespassed on my land."

"So did I," Matthew protested. He hated getting special treatment, he got enough from Alfred.

"We can talk more of this later," the man sighed. "For now, my name is Ivan, what is yours?"

"Matthew," Matthew answered. So this was the person they were talking about before they all fell asleep. The man didn't seem creepy, though his voice could put some people on edge. It seemed like his sister was more terrifying than anything else.

"You have met my sister, Natalia," Ivan said. "Now, put out your hand so that I can help you stand."

"I don't need help standing," Matthew protested and, to prove his point, stood on his own. Ivan chuckled slightly and his voice moved upwards, meaning he stood as well.

"I have a room you can sleep in," Ivan offered.

"Why?" Matthew asked. "Why take me in?"

"It is a feeling I cannot ignore," Ivan said and moved behind Matthew to help him move forward. "It is as simple as that."

"If you even think about harming my brother again…" Natalia growled, though she did not finish her threat. Not like she needed to, anyway. Matthew shivered slightly and Ivan sighed sadly.

"Careful, there are steps ahead," Ivan warned him and Matthew sighed. He wasn't _that_ handicapped. He could walk and find steps just fine on his own. To prove his point, Matthew quickly and quietly ascended the stairs. "I will not harm the group you were with as long as they do not attempt to harm me."

"Then why did you make them sleep just for being close by?" Matthew asked as Ivan turned him and they walked on normal, flat flooring.

"It's a precaution," Ivan explained. "I do not trust this world and I do not have walls, I could not afford such a thing. I look at the people nearby and, if they prove to be a threat, I will kill them. Not many come, though, as I live rather deep in a forest. Which makes me wonder what your group was doing."

"We're travelling," Matthew said and Ivan stopped walking. Matthew heard a door open and he was lead forward a few more steps.

"That is a rather strange group to travel with," Ivan said. "Two thieves, a prostitute, a small child."

"I don't need to explain anything to you," Matthew muttered.

"Very well," Ivan sighed before forcing Matthew to sit down on something. At first, Matthew was surprised, then he noticed how completely soft and comfortable whatever he was sitting on was. "I will not press anything. For now, you should sleep."

"Do I have a choice or do you have a spell?" Matthew asked.

"It is your decision," Ivan said, his voice beginning to move away slowly. "Though I would suggest it."

And the door closed. Immediately, Matthew stood on his feet and moved to the door. He fumbled around slightly, but quickly found the thing that made it open and attempted to turn it, but it wouldn't move. It was locked.

"Shit…" Matthew muttered. He did not know how high above the ground he was, though with the amount of steps he climbed, he was sure it was enough to hurt if he didn't land right from jumping from this height. He would also have to find a window and the lack of wind around him clued him in to the fact that there was probably not a window inside.

Matthew had no idea what to do. He was in the manor of a man he did not even know, away from anyone he did know, and stuck in a room he couldn't get out of. Ivan seemed nice enough, but Matthew had learned not to trust anyone. There was not a single person in their group that he was not on edge around, including Alfred. He couldn't even see to help him figure anything out. He was screwed.

With a small sigh, Matthew walked back to where he had sat down and used his hands to explore it. It was large, big enough for him to lie down on. There were other soft objects on one end of it. He pressed down on it and he couldn't help but think about how soft it was. It would be so comfortable and there would really be no harm in just lying down on it. He really couldn't do anything else, so there was no harm in it.

Matthew slowly climbed onto the object and couldn't help but smile as it moved underneath him. He quickly found the smaller objects and hugged one close to him tightly. He put his head onto another one of the objects and sighed happily. So maybe this wasn't so bad, it was so nice and comfortable. Matthew couldn't stop his eyelids from drooping, he was so exhausted.

It would be okay if the others were outside just for a little while, right? He was just so comfortable and he deserved a good rest, after everything that had happened to him. Matthew closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift into a nice, calm sleep.

***Fallen Stars***

"Fuck!" Gilbert sat upright, panting. He groaned as that dream left his memories and he glanced around at his surroundings. It was night, giving the forest an insanely creepy look that sent shivers down his spine. People groaned beside him and he let out a small, relieved sigh. They'd all made it alive.

"Bloody hell," Arthur cursed and Gilbert saw a dark form sit up, shaking their head.

"Lili, are you alright?" Vash asked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Lili giggled.

"Looks like everyone made it," Gilbert laughed happily, seeing that Francis was just waking up beside him.

"That sleeping spell really hits you hard, huh?" Alfred grumbled. "Wait…"

"Oi, Art, mind lighting us a fire?" Gilbert smirked. "This dark forest gives me the creeps."

"Shouldn't we be cautious around that man's manor?" Arthur asked and Gilbert gave a relieved sigh when he realized that it was the original Arthur.

"If he didn't kill us before, he won't touch us again," Gilbert shrugged. "That's how this works."

"Mattie?" Alfred asked.

"What about Birdie, did he not wake up?" Gilbert asked, raising an eyebrow. Arthur sighed and a fire appeared in front of him, lighting up the area around them. Gilbert glanced around at everyone and noticed that they were one person short. "Shit."

"What happened to him?" Alfred asked, his eyes going wide.

"I-I don't…" Gilbert muttered, hardly believing what he was seeing. Ivan usually just scoped out whoever came and killed anyone that looked like a threat. He wasn't a kidnapper…

"You know the most about him!" Alfred snapped and, before Gilbert could even register what was happening, he was tackled to the ground, his back hitting the ground hard. "What the fuck happened to my brother?"

"I would have fucking told you if I knew anything!" Gilbert spat at him. Alfred looked pissed beyond belief but the fire showed that his eyes were still a bright blue, making it almost look like he wasn't even mad in the first place. "Maybe you should have held on tighter to the kid!"

"Don't act like this was my fault!" Alfred yelled and unsheathed his sword. Gilbert winced, remembering the pain that damn thing had given him before. "If you know anything…"

"I don't," Gilbert stated and Alfred's eyes widened, almost in fear, before he climbed off of him.

"If he was not killed, we can only assume that he was taken into the manor," Francis explained and Alfred shook his head. Gilbert gritted his teeth and looked at the ground as he sat upright once again. He cared about Matthew, but he was shit out of luck if he was stuck with that maniac. Alone.

"I'm going to get him," Alfred stood up and started walking towards the manor.

"Are you insane?" Gilbert snapped at him.

"That's my brother!" Alfred turned around swiftly, putting the sword back in its place in the sheath. "I'm getting him back, no matter what."

"Are you willing to kill yourself?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," Alfred answered without hesitation.

"I will help you," Vash said as he stood up as well. Lili nodded as well before standing beside him.

"You are insane," Gilbert sighed before standing up. "But we're a team, so I'll help you out. That bastard's not putting a hand on Birdie if I can help it."

"You're going to get yourselves killed," Arthur shook his head.

"I'm sure the prostitute would have no problem with this," Gilbert smirked and Arthur glared at him. Francis stood and placed a hand on Gilbert's shoulder. Gilbert knew that meant he was going along, too. So all that left was Arthur.

"I am nothing like him, don't try to persuade me like that," Arthur scoffed. "You may go and kill yourselves, but I will stay here."

"Only looking out for yourself," Alfred shrugged. "Sounds just like your other personality to me."

"Then so be it," Arthur stated.

"I had figured anyone entering this group would be kind at heart," Francis sighed theatrically. "That everyone in it would be willing to do anything to help another person. I guess I was wrong."

"Dammit, if you intend to guilt trip me, I will go," Arthur stood and, with a flick of his wrist, the fire disappeared. "If we have to fight and my other self goes overboard again, you will face the consequences, not me."

"Thanks, Artie," Alfred said and the group started moving towards the manor.

"So, Franny and I should scout ahead first," Gilbert stated. "Since we are the only ones here with real experience in breaking and entering among us."

"What'll you do by yourself?" Alfred asked.

"We'll make sure no one's awake in there to fuck anything up," Gilbert shrugged as they stopped just a few feet from the front door. "We can get you after we make sure everyone's asleep and then we can all split up to find the kid."

"You're willing to risk your lives like that for someone you hardly know?" Vash asked.

"I don't understand it, either," Gilbert shrugged. "Is that plan cool with everyone?" No one shook their heads or said anything otherwise, so Gilbert took that as a yes. "Awesome. Come on, Franny."

Gilbert moved to the walls. There were a couple of windows around the place, which was good on their part. Not a lot of people could get windows, considering how hard they were to get. Eventually, once they had made their way to the back, there was a window that Gilbert thought would work just fine.

"You got anything to break a window without making noise?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow at Francis.

"That is a very complicated request," Francis muttered before walking up to the glass and placing his hand on it. "I do not, sadly."

"So we just have to break it and hope to God that no one wakes up?" Gilbert gritted his teeth, putting his own hand against the window. If only the thing could just disappear, that would make everything a hell of a lot easier.

Suddenly, Gilbert's hand wasn't leaning on anything, like the glass had disappeared and he fell over, leaning against the wall of the manor for support.

"What the hell…?" Gilbert examined it.

"I say roll with it for now," Francis shrugged, easily hoisting himself into the windowsill before ducking into the manor.

"Was that me?" Gilbert muttered before climbing in himself. He knew he was awesome, but making this disappear wasn't exactly in his element. He wasn't a wizard, he was a dragon rider. They didn't have magic.

"So, that Mathieu," Francis whispered from the other end of the room they had entered through. Gilbert didn't pay it any attention no one was there. All they would have to do was check through all of the rooms people could be sleeping in and call it a day.

"Is this really the time to talk about this?" Gilbert muttered. He knew just what his friend was about to on about and he moved quickly ahead of him, up to the stairs that lead upwards.

"I do not see a better time in the near future," Francis shrugged. "What is it that you feel towards him?"

"Why the hell does it matter?" Gilbert snapped quietly at him, walking up the stairs softly but quickly to ensure that nothing squeaked and gave them away.

"I can tell you feel something, my friend," Francis chuckled softly as the two made it to the top of the stairs. There was already a door to their right and Gilbert quickly and quietly held onto the door handle, slowly pushing it open. He looked inside and saw no one in the room. "Perhaps it might even be love."

"What the hell is up with you and love?" Gilbert sighed, shutting the door quietly. The next door was on the other side and he left that to Francis to open. "And, no, I don't love Birdie."

"Then why the nickname?" Francis teased, opening the door slightly. Gilbert glanced inside and found that there was someone in there. It was a woman with long hair and he flinched away. That was Ivan's sister.

"Shut the damn door before she wakes up," Gilbert hissed and Francis quickly obeyed. "And the nickname just came to me, alright? It's more awesome than Matthew, so what's the problem?"

"You are quite oblivious," Francis smirked and Gilbert opened the next door. Nothing. "It's rather amusing at this point."

"Shut the hell up," Gilbert groaned as Francis opened the next door. Nothing. "The bastard's smart, not sleeping near his sister."

"Why do you refuse to admit your obvious feelings?" Francis sighed as Gilbert tried the next door.

"It's locked," Gilbert muttered and knelt down, feeling into his pockets to pull out his pin to unlock it. "Check the other door while I'm working."

"If only Antonio were here," Francis sighed. "He is the best at this out of all of us."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Gilbert muttered. He hoped to God that Antonio didn't go looking for the two of them. He might actually kill them.

The door behind Gilbert opened as he put the pin in and carefully began to move it. He could pick a lock pretty quick, so they had no problems here. The door shut gently.

"That was Ivan's room," Francis muttered and Gilbert nodded. It made sense, considering it was the last room at the end of the hall, besides this locked one.

"Let's see what you've got locked up, Ivan," Gilbert muttered as he successfully unlocked the door and opened it slowly. He glanced inside as he stood up and couldn't stop himself from smiling. He opened the door further and, before him, lying on a bed, was probably the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.

Matthew was lying on his side, holding a pillow close to him. His face was peaceful and smiling slightly. The moonlight flooded through the window at just the right angle to practically give him a glow.

"He is very cute, I will admit that," Francis whispered smugly behind him and Gilbert turned to glare at him. "Do not worry, I will not step between you two. It seems as though another person in our group is quite fond of me already."

"You mean half a person," Gilbert snorted.

"He is still a person," Francis chuckled. "I will leave you with him while I go get the others."

"Fine," Gilbert sighed as Francis ducked down the hallway. He checked to make sure that the coast was clear before he stepped forward slightly to get a better look. Okay, so maybe he couldn't take his eyes away from Matthew from pretty much the moment he saw him. And maybe he would be willing to kill to have him laugh and smile all the time. That didn't mean that he loved him or anything, right?

*****Fallen Stars*****

**This chapter wasn't very well planned out before I started it, so I'm not sure how well it turned out. Originally, more was supposed to happen, but then I decided that Gil and Francis should have a nice little talk while they scope out the place. Why not? Those two could strike up a conversation in any life-or-death situation. And I feel a little bad for Mattie, but it's okay now because people are here to protect him. We also got a little glimpse at Ivan. What do you think about him?**

**Please review!**


	8. Positive

**In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.  
-Dalai Lama**

*****Fallen Stars*****

Alfred paced nervously in front of the door. How long did it take to look through a freaking house? He had to make sure that his brother was safe. If he wasn't, he was finally going to test out his sword on that Ivan.

"You need to relax," Arthur sighed. "If you're prepared to fight, then you must be relaxed. That's one thing my other personality has taught me."

"I'm afraid I'm still low on bullets," Vash sighed. "Lili has a few arrows. I'm less useful in hand-to-hand combat."

"We'll be fine if the thieves are still in good shape," Alfred stated. "I may not trust them, but they'll know how to fight. Mattie can, too."

"A blind man can't fight well," Vash stated.

"Tell that to him," Alfred smirked slightly. He remembered all too well all the times he'd been pinned by his brother. He stopped going easy on him a while ago, but that was just one-on-one. And it was just Alfred. This man probably fought entirely differently than him.

The door opened in front of them and Alfred immediately moved to the person. It was Francis and he seemed calm and relaxed, so that meant everything was good. As long as the people inside of the house were asleep, they could just sneak in and out and go on with their lives. Perfect.

"Do not worry, your brother is fine," Francis said quietly as the rest of the group filed in. "He was sleeping last I saw and I left Gilbert with him."

"That's hardly safe," Alfred muttered but followed the thief through the dark house anyway. They were quiet as they ascended some stairs and Alfred nearly tripped, but Arthur caught him with a sigh.

"Careful, you big oaf," Arthur said quietly and Alfred nodded. They were just at the top of the stairs when they heard talking and Francis stopped, his arm moving back to ensure that no one else moved. Alfred crouched down to make sure that no one could see him above the stairs.

"Why are we stopping?" Alfred hissed.

"Keep moving if you wish to die," Francis glared back at him.

"My brother's up there!" Alfred quietly protested.

"He is with Gilbert," Francis stated. "No one has ever succeeded in killing him. Your brother is safe."

"He is a thief, I don't trust him worth shit," Alfred growled.

"I asked your name, thief!" a man Alfred had never heard before yelled and no one on the stairs spoke again.

"Make me," Gilbert spat and Alfred was almost thankful that he wasn't up there. Sure, he was terrified about what might happen to his brother, but the two men he'd heard sounded pissed. It was almost like a death match for talking.

"I have seen you before, have I not?" the man asked. "I had you work for me."

"I left my guild, I can't be ordered around now," Gilbert growled.

"Please…don't," Matthew's voice muttered and Alfred shifted. He placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. Moving it out would cause too much noise and attract attention. He would only pull it out when he really had to. When his brother's life was in danger.

"Do you really intend to leave?" the man asked, almost quietly.

"Brother," the door opened suddenly in front of them and they moved backwards slightly. The woman that opened the door didn't even look in their direction as she ran towards where the voices were. "Is this swine causing you pain at just the sight of him? I will remove him if I must."

"Fuck off, bitch," Gilbert growled.

"Do not speak that way to my sister," the man snapped and Alfred heard the sound of Gilbert's sword being unsheathed. Alfred did so to his own sword, only slightly.

"Don't come near me, or I will cut off your hands," Gilbert threatened as Arthur glared at him.

"Do you want to kill yourself?" Arthur hissed at him.

"That is my brother," Alfred whispered.

"Odd that blood ties actually matter," Arthur muttered and turned back ahead. The conversation had continued, but Alfred had missed some of it.

"I said don't step closer, bastard!" Gilbert shouted and the ground shuddered. Alfred fully unsheathed his sword now, but the shuddering didn't calm.

"What the hell?" Vash muttered and Alfred didn't care anymore. He stood up just to see a large cloud of smoke in front of him.

"Brother!" the woman screeched.

"Mattie!" Alfred yelled and ran forward, ignoring the yells of people around him. He ran into the dust cloud, not caring that he couldn't see. He had to find his brother, at all costs. He had promised to protect him and he intended to keep that promise, no matter what. As he ran forward, however, he found that the ground in front of him was gone and he would have fallen, if not for someone gripping onto the back of his shirt before roughly pulling him up. He went face-to-face with the scariest thing he had ever seen.

"Who the hell are you?" It was the woman's voice, the one from earlier and Alfred actually dropped his sword.

"Shit," Alfred cursed, looking at the hole through which he'd lost his sword. The dust was clearing and he looked back at the woman. She had very long, dark blonde hair that was disheveled from sleep as well as cold, unfeeling blue eyes that were glaring right at Alfred. It actually looked like she intended to kill him.

"I asked who the hell you were!" the woman snapped.

"I was just here to save my brother, nothing you should worry about," Alfred snapped and attempted to get her hand off of him, but she just held on tighter. She had to be superhuman or something.

"Did you cause that hole?!" she yelled at him. "Did you mean to hurt my brother! I will make you pay! You will die!"

"I didn't do shit, lady!" Alfred snapped. A small, blue ball appeared around him and the woman retracted her hand, backing away slightly. The ball disappeared and Alfred glanced over to where the stairs were. Arthur let out a small sigh, straightening himself out as the others ran in. Francis examined the hole and let out a whistle.

"I will make you all pay for what you have done to my brother," the woman growled and a blue barrier appeared in front of her to stop her from moving forward. She screamed in rage and hit furiously against the barrier.

"At least there is one good thing about Francis being here," Arthur scoffed. "My magic is strong enough to hold her back."

"Then we should go downstairs to see what happened to the people that fell," Vash stated.

"I hope no one was hurt," Lili muttered.

"If this was Gilbert, then I'm sure someone was," Francis muttered.

"You will need to explain about him once we are out of danger," Arthur sighed. "I'll only be able to keep this barrier up if I'm close by so you all can go on your own."

"In that case, I will have to stay as well, right?" Francis smirked and Arthur glared at him.

"Just so you know, I need to focus," Arthur scoffed. "If you distract me, she may just break loose and kill you. Not that I would mind."

"You wound me," Francis sighed dramatically.

"Come on," Alfred looked at Vash and Lili. "I'm going to find my brother." Vash nodded and they quickly ran down the stairs. Alfred could only hope that his brother would be okay this time.

***Fallen Stars***

Gilbert groaned, his entire body aching. He didn't know how, but the floor had collapsed and the only thought he had was to make sure Matthew didn't get hurt. He was sure he blacked out for a moment, but he could hear Matthew groan in pain as well.

"Birdie?" Gilbert asked and tried to blink around the dust. He coughed slightly and kept trying to look around. Gilbert managed to sit upright and, luckily, it didn't seem like he was too badly injured. It still hurt like a bitch, though.

"You should not have done that," Ivan muttered fairly close by and Gilbert immediately started looking for his sword. He could at least stand somewhat of a chance with it.

"I didn't do anything, you crazy bastard," Gilbert growled. The dust was clearing and he could hear some yelling from the top of the hole that had somehow been created. He still couldn't see Matthew or his sword. "Maybe it was your creepy ass sister."

"Do not accuse my sister of anything," Ivan snapped at him. Gilbert found it odd that the man wasn't going near him. Gilbert slowly stood up and continued to look for his sword and Matthew, but nothing came into sight. He groaned and looked up. That was when he noticed something falling and he moved out of the way as it clanked onto the ground. It was Alfred's sword. Awesome. Just his luck.

Gilbert reached his hand forward tentatively and just barely touched the thing before a burning sensation forced through his whole body and he stumbled back.

"Damn," Gilbert cursed under his breath. "Birdie!"

"Matthew," Ivan stated and Gilbert immediately turned around. It was dark and he could just see figures, but the only two people that fell with him were Matthew and Ivan, so that meant those figures had to be them. He immediately started to climb over the debris to get to them.

"You have a rock on top of you," Matthew noted and Gilbert stopped. He was expecting screams of horror or pain or something, not Matthew actually…caring about that sadistic bastard. Ivan muttered something in pain and Gilbert decided to continue towards them. The closer he got, the more he could see. Matthew was kneeling beside Ivan, who did actually have a rock on his legs. The second Gilbert and Ivan locked eyes, Ivan glared at him.

"Don't think that you can just take advantage of this and kill me," Ivan growled.

"Relax, I wasn't even coming here to kill you," Gilbert sighed and remembered the sword. "Hey, Birdie, can you touch Alfred's sword without it killing you?"

"Yeah," Matthew nodded. "Oh, do you want me to heal him with it?"

"I'll get the rock off him," Gilbert sighed. "It's over the debris a way, just behind me. You can get there, can't you?"

"Uh, yeah," Matthew nodded and started moving. Ivan was giving him a strange look, but Gilbert just ignored him.

"It's unsheathed so look out for that, alright?" Gilbert sighed and Matthew nodded, climbing over some of the debris.

"Why do you treat him like that?" Ivan asked as Gilbert moved over to the rock. It would hurt like hell but Gilbert had no problem causing that guy pain in the first place.

"Like a regular person?" Gilbert asked simply. He knelt down beside Ivan and pushed at the rock lightly. It would move, but Ivan already twitched in pain. "Don't be a wuss, I'll get it off. Your legs are probably broken, though."

"Why are you acting so seriously?" Ivan grunted in pain as Gilbert pushed the rock off. Ivan twitched slightly and Gilbert honestly couldn't say that he smirked happily at that.

"You're hurt," Gilbert sighed. "It might be my fault. I'm awesome, so I can't just let someone writhe in pain if I can help it."

"Says the man that made a blind man go find a sword," Ivan muttered.

"He doesn't need special treatment," Gilbert stated simply, standing up. "He can handle himself. If he couldn't, he would already be dead. He doesn't need anyone's sympathy. Besides, that kid's awesome, nothing will stop him."

"You speak so highly of him," Ivan muttered.

"Is that the only reason you kidnapped him?" Gilbert muttered, looking over the pile of debris to see when Matthew would come back.

"There is another interesting thing about him," Ivan said, wincing slightly as he looked towards the debris as well. "It seems that he is resistant to magic. In order for any spell to work on him, it would have to be incredibly powerful."

"So you took him to have an advantage?" Gilbert scoffed.

"In this world, no matter what side you're on, you need to have some kind of advantage," Ivan sighed as Matthew started slowly climbing over the debris, sword in hand. Gilbert smirked slightly as he carefully walking over, ensuring that the sword wouldn't hurt anyone. "I'm over here, Matthew."

"Right," Matthew nodded. He knelt down and felt for Ivan's hand before carefully placing the middle of the sword onto it. Ivan winced slightly at first, but then he looked at him in surprise.

"Where did people like you obtain a sword like that?" Ivan muttered.

"It's Alfred's," Matthew smiled and Gilbert was happy to see that he wasn't traumatized or anything. The kid trusted Ivan enough, so that meant he would, at least for the time being. "It was our dad's but he never told us where he got it. We think, maybe, it's been passed down."

"It's a very impressive heirloom," Ivan said as he sat upright and Matthew stood up with a small smile on his face. The only thing that ruined the moment was the fact that Matthew looked in his direction with unseeing eyes.

"Mattie!" Alfred called out, crashing through a large pile of debris and landing on his face. Gilbert couldn't stop himself from laughing so hard that he fell over, landing onto the rocks. Vash came in shortly after, Lili peeking out behind him.

"Are you freaking serious?" Gilbert gasped in his laughter, holding onto his stomach. "That's our freaking rescue party? Oh, my God, that's fucking hilarious!"

"Wait, no one's in trouble?" Alfred muttered, looking up at them with a dumb look on his face and Gilbert started laughing even harder.

"I'm fine, Alfred," Matthew smiled as Ivan stood up.

"Don't move," Vash stated, pointing his gun at Ivan.

"Well, don't shoot him," Gilbert smirked, sitting up. "What the hell did he do?"

"You were the one spouting shit about how he was a creep!" Alfred snapped.

"And your little brother has made a good point," Gilbert said. "He trusts him."

"Y-You do?" Alfred asked, standing up and walking up to his brother. Matthew nodded shakily after a short while.

"The only reason he took me was because I was blind and he wanted me to be safe," Matthew stated.

"I did not expect your whole group to come and help you," Ivan smiled slightly and it wasn't that creepy smile that Gilbert remembered from when he was hired by the man. "Natalia!" he called up, looking into the hole above them.

There was a crash overhead, followed by a long string of curses and someone jumped down from the hole, hardly leaving time to land before she ran up to Ivan.

"You called, brother?" Natalia asked and Gilbert had to hold back from laughing, only because he knew that the woman would kill him if he tried. Ivan backed away slightly, also apparently caught off guard by the woman's behavior.

"What the bloody hell? She broke through the barrier?!" Arthur shouted from above and Gilbert started laughing yet again.

"This is fucking awesome!" Gilbert laughed and Matthew giggled slightly.

"What is the purpose of your group?" Ivan asked. "You are obviously not family, nor are you any sort of thieves' guild. What is a group like you doing travelling together?"

"Are you willing to listen for a little while?" Alfred asked, pulling himself together to look serious, but his eyes told an entirely different story. Ivan nodded and Alfred let out a sigh before he began his little speech.

***Fallen Stars***

Arthur let out a sigh. He was exhausted. Even with Francis around, rebuilding that damn hole in the ground took up a lot of energy. Alfred was discussing having Ivan join their group while he was left with that bastard, Francis, to rebuild the damage. Rocks were heavy, as well, so levitating them to the proper height was near impossible. He was just thankful that his other personality had yet to show his face.

"Damn the idiot that did this," Arthur muttered, locking another piece of debris in place. "Damn Alfred for making me do this."

"Let me guess," Francis smirked, leaning against a nearby wall. "Damn me for being near you?"

"Shut the hell up, I need to concentrate," Arthur snapped, nearly dropping a large piece of the floor. He was panting from all of the work and wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead after he had made sure that it was in place. Just a few more pieces now and he would be done.

"You know, this would be impossible if it were not for me," Francis boasted and Arthur growled, lifting another piece into the air. He stayed quiet for the mere purpose of keeping the thing up. As much as he wanted to curse Francis out right then, he had to keep going. He had no idea why he felt a need to help that man out with his manor, but he was putting it back together anyway. He was sure that neither Ivan's magic, nor his sisters', would be strong enough to do any of this, even with Francis nearby. Arthur didn't understand it much, but just having the man nearby increased his magic significantly. It was an impossible skill, yet there it was. Probably the man's only redeeming quality.

"Almost finished," Arthur muttered as he lifted the last piece and was in the process of attaching it to the end of the corridor. As soon as he was done, he allowed himself to fall onto his knees. He felt about ready to collapse, he'd worked so hard. Maybe that was why his other personality hadn't come out, he just didn't want to be tired.

"I did not think it would be that hard to rebuild a floor," Francis mused.

"If there were just a simple spell for it, then it wouldn't be," Arthur sighed. "This required multiple, complex spells in order to lift heavy objects and connect them. And I had to ensure that everything would stay put. I can't just let myself be known for shoddy craftsmanship."

"Your pride could very well be the death of you," Francis chuckled, standing from his spot and holding out a hand for Arthur. "Come on, we should see how everything is going on with them downstairs."

"I don't need your help to stand," Arthur muttered and tried to stand on his own, but he was more tired than he thought and he let out a groan. "Dammit."

"Let someone help you every once in a while," Francis stated and Arthur gripped onto his hand. A small amount of his energy came back, no doubt due to Francis, and he stood on his feet, albeit a little shakily.

"I don't need your help," Arthur repeated himself before he continued down the hallway, leaving Francis behind him.

"Neither of you do," Francis chuckled and Arthur sighed slightly. He slowly made his way down the stairs and walked to the room he'd been told everyone was talking in. It was meant to eat in, with a massive table, though it was obviously not used often. Arthur walked in and the conversation stopped for a short while before it continued as he slumped into a chair. Francis followed him close behind, sitting with Gilbert on the other side of the table.

"So you know this temporary king, huh?" Alfred asked Ivan and Arthur's interest piqued. He had heard about the newest king recently, but it didn't attract much of his interest. He'd lived through about 5 kings and none of them accomplished anything.

"He doesn't appear to be doing anything to harm anyone, but that may simply be to save face," Ivan nodded. They were both at one end of the table, Ivan was sitting while Alfred stood. Natalia stood just behind her brother and Vash and Lili were on the same side of the table as Arthur. Matthew was on the same side as Gilbert and Francis. "If you intend to change anything, you should start with him."

"If he's doing things for good, then he'll be a good ally," Alfred reasoned.

"And if he's a bastard, we can just get him out of the way and get a new king up there," Gilbert shrugged. "Maybe they'll finally do some good."

"Hey, Artie, were you able to repair the floor okay?" Alfred asked, turning his attention to Arthur, who had figured the young man hadn't even seen him walk in the door.

"It's all your fault that I'm exhausted," Arthur grumbled. "But the floor is fine."

"Thanks to me," Francis said smugly and Arthur glared at him. "So, is Ivan going to join us?"

"Not yet," Ivan sighed. "I have other things I must tend to before I will join you. I may also bring another person to help as well."

"As much as I don't trust you, I'll live with it," Gilbert sighed. "We'll need someone like you around."

"Wow, Gilbert can swallow his pride like that?" Francis laughed and Gilbert jabbed him with his elbow.

"So, how do we get to this temporary king?" Alfred asked. "Do you have a map or something?"

"I don't have a map," Ivan stated, "though I know how to get there. If you start at the back of my manor and go straight, you will go through three towns, one of them is temporary, so it may have moved. The third one is close to the king's manor. It will be up to you in order to get through his wall and then through the town he has in it."

"What is this king's name?" Matthew asked quietly.

"Mathias."

*****Fallen Stars*****

**A****ll of the stuff that happened in this chapter. All of the stuff… On one hand, Arthur hasn't moved personalities for two whole chapters, Gilbert's swallowing his pride for Matthew's sake, and Ivan has something up his sleeve. Not to mention, I'm including Mathias! I originally didn't plan on including the Nordics, but it just kind of came to me while writing this chapter. I needed to spice up the plot a little bit and get it going somewhere in particular, so here we go!**

**And no one's guessed the plot twist I have up ahead. Trust me, it's something big, so keep on trying! (My biggest hints will be with Gilbert, so watch him carefully.)**

**And you have my deepest apologies for taking so long to update recently. A lot of shit is going on at school and it's only going to get worse. I'm so, very sorry!**

**And please review!**


	9. Go

**If you're going through hell, keep going.  
-Winston Churchill**

*****Fallen Stars*****

It took Arthur a short while to understand where he was. Evidently, the other one didn't feel like sharing memories, the little bastard. Luckily, their little group was walking through the forest and there was no new person, thankfully. They had been picking up far too many people at once. Gilbert was still close to Matthew, obviously showing his affections, Alfred marched forward like some hero, Vash and Lili stayed at the back of the group, weapons poised on their backs in preparation for anything, and then that delectable Francis was walking right beside him.

"So what the hell happened after I fell asleep?" Arthur asked, turning to Francis, who seemed slightly surprised before understanding.

"Good to see you again," Francis nodded with a smirk and Arthur returned one of his own. He noticed that his body was rather tired and a lot of magic had recently been used. What the hell did the other one think he was doing? "As it turns out, the one that made us sleep was not intent on killing us. We managed to break into his manor to rescue Matthew, who had been taken by him and then someone managed to break a hole in the ground, which your other self was charged with repairing. Ivan will be joining us later, though we are now on our way to meet King Mathias."

"Figures everywhere we go that obnoxious twit manages to pick up someone," Arthur scoffed. The magic made sense. He was sure that rebuilding a simple floor would be too much for the other one to accomplish, even with Francis around to boost his magic. Arthur didn't understand it much himself, but he was far better at using their magic to it's full potential. He'd gotten close to the maximum once before, nearly killing the both of them. That was a rather fun job. "Why should be bother with that King?"

"Ivan seemed to think it would be a good idea," Francis shrugged.

"And I'm the leader, so I say we go there," Alfred stated simply.

"You gotta remind me when we had that vote, kid," Gilbert laughed, tilting his head back slightly. Arthur was also curious about that one as well. Despite his personality, there was something interesting about him. He could sense a lot of magic in him, far more than was normal, but it was suppressed by something that he couldn't understand. Arthur had never met a dragon rider before and it might have been residue from a dragon. Then again…

"You should regale us with stories of your dragon as we walk, Gilbert," Arthur said and Gilbert glanced back at him. There was something in his eyes and Arthur smirked, walking slightly closer to Francis, the only bearable person to be around at this time.

"What about him do you wanna know?" Gilbert shrugged.

"Why have we yet to see him?" Arthur hummed.

"Dragons and their riders have this weird relationship, I don't ask questions," Gilbert said simply, subtly guiding Matthew around a tree. Alfred scowled and Arthur rolled his eyes. That boy would have to learn that he shouldn't be close with any family member. "I can't call on him any old time I want just to look bad ass. Dragons are pretty damn powerful and it takes a lot of energy for me to call one so I don't even do it often. Generally, they only come on their own when their rider is in danger. Then they kick ass on everything they see that's hurting the rider."

"Care to tell us where you found yours, then?" Arthur asked. Francis raised an eyebrow at him and Arthur simply sent him a wink in reply. "I would love to know where I could find one."

"Well, those caves are pretty intense, I wouldn't suggest it," Gilbert stated. "I mean, it's pretty rare to get a dragon rider in the first place, if you're not one and you're in a dragon's den, you're pretty much guaranteed to die. I only had a hunch that I was one myself when I went into one. I don't really remember where the hell that cave was, I think it was over to the West or something."

"Interesting," Arthur nodded.

"Does he have a name?" Matthew asked innocently and Arthur had to fight not to laugh at the question. Gilbert was stunned slightly into quiet, quite a feat indeed, before he continued to talk.

"Dragons have their own language or something like that," Gilbert said quickly. "They have their own names between themselves, but I was able to name him myself since I'm that awesome. I named him Gilbird, after myself."

Arthur snorted and Lili giggled behind him. Matthew seemed enthralled as usual and Alfred just said nothing, marching ahead as if he really were the leader. If Arthur had any clue where they were going, he would have gone ahead of that imbecile.

"I have heard these stories far too many times," Francis sighed with a slight smile. So that was how Gilbert was so skilled in something like this.

"You two are part of the same thieves' guild, right?" Arthur asked. "It must be exhausting to clean up that idiot's mess all the time."

"More like I help Franny out," Gilbert boasted loudly. "That guy can't do anything by himself!"

"Says the one that got his ass kicked by a group of women," Francis laughed.

"Okay, those chicks had something wrong with them!" Gilbert protested, turning towards them. "The reward was high, so obviously it was fucking dangerous. I just didn't think one of those banshees would hit me with a fucking frying pan!"

"You were taken out by a woman with a skillet?" Arthur laughed.

"They were skilled warrior women," Gilbert grumbled, rolling his eyes before looking forward again. "They were going around terrorizing this one guy's land and he wanted them off."

"And Antonio had to help you to not get killed," Francis chimed and Arthur continued to laugh, holding onto his stomach.

"Yeah, well he had a rough time, too," Gilbert pouted. "It wasn't just me, even he had problems."

"And yet he single handedly pushed them out of town," Francis smirked.

"How useless are you at your job?" Arthur laughed.

"Better than you would be," Gilbert grumbled.

"I'm sure you were great," Matthew smiled lightly and Arthur nearly gagged. Those two needed to realize that romance had no place in this world. There was a reason Arthur had his previous job.

"Stop," Alfred ordered and kneeled slightly, hand on the hilt of his sword. Arthur narrowed his eyes in suspicion before looking ahead. There was a town, obviously temporary. The forest wouldn't let them hear the commotion, but it could clearly be seen. Raiders.

"I say we have a little fun," Arthur offered with a shrug, walking past Alfred.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alfred snapped.

"You're the one that wants to change the world for the better," Arthur stated, glancing back at him. The only thing he could hand to the kid were his looks. If only he had a slightly more chiseled face and darker blue eyes that didn't look so innocent, then we would have been perfect. After he did something with that insufferable personality. "You can start with at least disposing of those evil Raiders and help the innocent in that town."

Arthur didn't even look back again as he walked forward. As soon as he stepped out of the forest, he smelled the smoke and the screams started. He couldn't help but laugh as he watched the poor bastards running around everywhere and screaming. Some he could even see get stabbed through by a Raider. He caught sight of one Raider that looked straight at him. With a snap of Arthur's fingers, the man lit on fire and ran about screaming with the rest, increasing Arthur's amusement.

He continued to walk, ensuring clean air around him with a simple spell. He saw a sword lying on the ground nearby another person. Raider or not, it would be entertaining. So Arthur lifted the sword into the air and slammed it roughly into the man's shoulder, leading him to scream and get stuck onto the falling remains of one hut. He wouldn't die immediately, rather he would slowly bleed out. Arthur's laughter increased as he continued to walk through. This was the most fun he'd had in quite some time.

"Check it out, it's a wizard," a man said to his left and Arthur sighed, creating a ball of energy in his hand that he could throw at the idiot and kill instantly.

"No shit," a man said to his right and Arthur smirked. He could be next. But what method would he use? He knew so many, after all. "You know how high the price is for one of those?"

"How much you wanna bet he's already a prostitute?" the man on the left laughed and Arthur scoffed.

"I prefer to think of myself as an entertainer," Arthur smirked.

"Then the trade value's even higher," the man on the right said smugly.

"Then we'll take this one alive," a man said suddenly behind Arthur and his guard dropped. How did he not sense that level of magic before? The bastard must have used a shielding spell! Before he could possibly come up with some kind of counter, he was hit with something on the back of his head and he tumbled to the ground, unable to move. The corners of his vision started to turn black and he was left hopeless, a position he definitely did not like. He could barely see a few of the others in his group come into view as he felt his arms move behind his back before the black took over all of his vision.

***Fallen Stars***

Arthur awoke with a start. His other personality had shared memories, most likely out of his own safety. Arthur barely caught a glimpse of the filthy ground around him, barely even heard the gruff voices around him, before he felt his wrists. They were tied securely behind his back as he laid on his stomach, his face on the ground. There was no way he could use his magic with his hands restrained.

One of the men, a Raider, caught sight of him and started to laugh. He only took a step forward before Arthur turned control over to his other personality, knowing he would be far more suited to a task like that.

"Look who's finally awake!" the man laughed heartily and lightly kicked at Arthur's arm. Arthur growled at him, silently cursing the other one for being so weak as to need someone else to do something for him. Then again, this body was both of theirs and Arthur didn't trust him to take good care of it.

"Fuckers," Arthur snapped. It was not fair, using a knock down spell on someone. Arthur almost laughed at that. It seemed as though the other one was affecting him in some way.

"Can't use your magic without your hands," the man laughed, kicking a little harder. "Don't worry, we won't hurt ya, since we have to get you to our client in perfect condition. Someone like you is hard to come by."

"You know what we could do?" a man asked behind Arthur and pulled him into a kneeling position by the rope tying his wrists, roughly pulling on his hair to tilt his head back. "We could see how good of a prostitute he was."

"Try anything and I will make sure it's more pain than pleasure," Arthur growled. He detested this feeling of being degraded.

"You ever been bottom, prostitute?" the first man laughed and the second man pushed Arthur back onto the ground and Arthur gritted his teeth.

"Never allowed anyone that pleasure," Arthur spat at him. "You are no exception."

"You think you got a choice!" the first man bellowed, moving behind Arthur and roughly holding onto his pants. That was most likely the first moment Arthur ever felt panic surge through him. Immediately, he began to move his right hand, pulling as hard as he could to get it out of the ropes. That bastard would regret every breath he even breathed near Arthur.

His pants had yet to move even and inch when Arthur felt his wrist pop, dislocating. He bit his tongue to as not to cry out in pain like a weakling, feeling blood spurt in his mouth as he did so, but continued. Dammit, no one was going to so much as try to defile him. After another inch, Arthur's hand got free and he trust his hand back, causing a rush of wind to knock everyone behind him back. Arthur swiftly fixed his clothing before sitting upright and looking around. More Raiders moved towards him and Arthur yelled angrily at them before setting them all aflame with a wave of his injured hand.

Arthur winced in pain, holding onto his wrist. He was never good with healing magic, nor was the other one. He recited the best spell he could think of at the time while the Raiders screamed in agony around him and felt the bones painfully lock back into place. He groaned before standing and glancing back at the man who had just tried to defile him, who had been spared by the fire. He looked terrified now as Arthur slowly walked towards him, glaring at his pathetic existence.

"You are no exception," Arthur repeated himself before moving his hand downwards, causing the rock roof above them, as they were in some sort of dungeon, to fall and tumble directly onto him. Arthur was satisfied with the puddle of blood he had caused and smirked triumphantly. He looked around the room, which had now calmed to a dead silence, and found a door. He walked towards it slowly before he felt himself slip away just as he held onto the doorknob.

Arthur took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts as he held onto the door handle. His other personality did not share details of what happened. The only thing he left was advice to not look back. With a shaking hand, Arthur opened the door and glanced back quickly. He fought back a scream at the sight of the charred bodies and the blood and quickly shut the door behind him.

_I warned you_. A voice said as Arthur panted, leaning against the closed door. He fought not to vomit as he recalled the sight and looked ahead. There was a row of torches around a hallway made of stone. It was obviously a Raider's hideout, building underground, no doubt. As Arthur walked down the hallway, he looked at his wrists. One of them still had a rope wrapped tightly around it and the other hand had rope burns as well as a small pain. There was a slight metallic taste in his mouth and his tongue hurt as well. He knew it very well could have been worse and so he was thankful for the few injuries he had as he continued forward.

He slowed down as he reached a new door, from which he could hear shouting. He listened closely to the door, looking down the hallway to ensure no one else came by.

"You fucking bastards! Face me like men, you fucking cowards!" Gilbert was screaming and Arthur had to wonder who else had been taken. "I didn't know Raiders were so weak, needing to lock a person up! Are you just scared to come near me?! Is that it?!"

"Damn it all," Arthur muttered.

***Fallen Stars***

Matthew was crying, he couldn't help it. He was alone, most likely in some kind of cage. No one was close, not even Gilbert. He was in the same room, sure, but he wasn't close or anything related to that. He was screaming in a blind rage that wasn't helping anything as Matthew continued to cry in his black, blind world.

Arthur had been taken first and Alfred had tried to save him. Those Raiders had their fun beating him up and then turned their attention on Matthew, deciding to take him, too. They also captured Lili, Gilbert, and Francis, knowing that the last two were traitors from a thieves' guild. They just thought Lili was cute. Lili had stayed quiet, the smart girl that she was, and Matthew couldn't even hear Francis, wherever he was.

"You're just not enough of a fucking man, are you?!" Gilbert spat. "No wonder I'm not scared of any Raiders! If you were thieves, maybe then I'd be shitting my pants, but you just sit there and stare like weaklings!"

"Gilbert," Francis sighed.

"No, shut the fuck up, Francis," Gilbert snapped. "Do you even know what this fucking means! They'll get the reward and we'll get fucking killed! You just gonna let that happen?!"

"Of course not," Francis stated.

"Then what the hell are you doing just sitting there, you fucking quitter!"

"Matthew," a voice said quietly and Matthew jumped. He knew that voice, it was Arthur. But why was it coming from the floor? "Don't panic, I'm using a spell that enables me to move through solid objects. I'm going to help you out of here, you have to trust me, alright?"

Matthew nodded. This sounded like the nicer Arthur, who he really did trust.

"Then hold your breath," Arthur stated and Matthew obeyed. Immediately, Matthew felt a sinking feeling until he landed on his feet on to the ground. "You can breathe now."

"Thank you," Matthew muttered.

"What happened?" Arthur asked and Matthew told him the story, not sure how he was reacting to it. He stayed quiet for a short while after. "I need you to stay here. I'm going to help get everyone out of here. After that, we can worry about finding Alfred and the others."

"I can help," Matthew argued.

"It would be better if you stayed put," Arthur sighed. "I can't get Lili out, since she's surrounded by that filth, but I will get her back here as soon as possible."

"Don't treat me like I'm useless," Matthew muttered.

"I know you're not," Arthur sighed. "I don't even know this place very well. I can lock the door when I leave a place a ward around it. You just have to ensure that you are silent so no one will find you. I will be back, I promise."

Matthew heard a door close and he let out a groan as he heard it lock.

"I'm not useless," Matthew muttered. He hated feeling useless, needing to be protected. He was always chosen to be protected first, just because he was blind. Just because he needed to be pitied. He'd learned to fight for a reason, yet his brother hardly let him near anyone because he was so scared of something happening to him. Well, Matthew was scared, too, but that was something that made a good fighter, wasn't it?

Matthew took a deep breath and walked towards the door, feeling where the handle was with his hand. He then slowly lifted up his leg before slamming it hard onto the handle, snapping it off of the wood. Matthew smirked at his job well done and pushed the door open. He could hear more of a commotion to his left and immediately started running. He didn't even care that he hit a wall, he just pushed off it and continued to run.

He wasn't useless and he was going to show it.

*****Fallen Stars*****

**So, I looked up synonyms for coward on my word document and used practically all of them with Gilbert. It was fun. And Matthew is finally fed up with being protected. I would kind of hate it, too. Matthew's been working hard to make sure that his blindness doesn't hinder anything and yet people still go around giving him special treatment. So now it's his time to kick some ass. I'm excited for next chapter! Oh, and pirate!Arthur got some more spotlight, which was beautiful and fun to write. I had no idea that I had an inner sadist just waiting inside me to come out. I tried to make the turning from each personality as obvious as possible, sorry if it was a little confusing! I would make them have different names, but they both identify as Arthur for a reason, so I can't. Sorry, again!**

**Also, I updated early as a sort of apology for taking so long last time! I have no idea how I did it, but I'm proud of myself.**

**Anywho, please review! See you all next time!**


	10. Distance

"**I can go the distance."  
-From Hercules, the Disney movie.**

*****Fallen Stars*****

Gilbert snarled as he paced in that damn cage he was in. He felt like an animal. The Raiders, just a few feet beyond the cage, just laughed and continued with their damn card game. The one thing Gilbert could be happy about was the fact that, as soon as they were in their stupid base, they ignored them. Gilbert had no idea about Arthur, but the rest of them, including Lili, were ignored in favor of the Raiders making sure that their King beat the others Jack or some shit like that.

Gilbert glanced over at where Matthew was and stopped in his tracks when he noticed that the kid was gone. He looked back at the Raiders and saw that there weren't any missing and he hadn't seen or heard that door to the room open. That meant Matthew must have gotten out somehow… Gilbert kept on pacing, just to make sure that he didn't draw any attention to the empty cage that was nearby.

"It took you quite a while to notice it," Francis chuckled, leaning against the wall of his own cage that was closest to Gilbert. He was sitting on the ground, arms crossed over his chest calmly.

"Sorry I'm busy trying to find a way out of here," Gilbert grumbled, stopping close to Francis' cage to talk to him quietly.

"Well, Matthew is out, so I am sure we are fine," Francis shrugged. "Whoever helped him out is also no doubt trying to help us as well."

"Who do you think it was?" Gilbert asked. "Couldn't have been Alfred, he can't be stealthy. Vash would come here, gun blazing considering Lili…"

"Arthur could have managed it," Francis shrugged.

"How the hell would he get out?" Gilbert scoffed. "He was under the biggest security out of all of us, since he's a wizard. Hell, I wouldn't even let him go, if it cost me my life if I were in their position. Just imagine that pay off."

"Maybe it did cost them their lives," Francis shrugged and Gilbert gave him an odd look. "Arthur knows how to make his other personality come out. If he were scared enough, he could pull him out and I'm sure he has no problem killing anyone."

"And Arthur once said that the softer personality would stop the other if they were about to kill someone," Gilbert stated.

"Unless both of them want that person to be killed," Francis offered. "It is only a theory, I do not understand it much myself, as I am sure he does not either."

"Well, while we're waiting to get our asses rescued," Gilbert sighed, leaning forward on his cage, "who do you think the guild is sending to kill us?"

"Considering you are involved?" Francis laughed. "I think there's only one person they'd send."

"We just gotta hope that he's far away, then," Gilbert groaned. "What are the chances?"

"Knowing your luck?" Francis smirked. "He's on his way right now."

"Dammit," Gilbert sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked back to the Raiders. One of them won their little game and got a piece of gold out of it. Gilbert smirked and walked towards them and sat down at the end of the cage that was closest to them. He was maybe a few feet from them. "Oi, cowards, what game you playing?"

They didn't answer him, they just shuffled the deck once again and dealt out the cards. Gilbert stared on in interest before quickly figuring out which game they were playing. He took a look at the cards that the guy behind him was looking at.

"You might wanna play that Ace next, dude," Gilbert said and the man growled, glancing back barely at him before turning back to the game. "Oh, come on, at least take my advice. It's obvious that the other guys don't have an Ace, so just play it."

"Shut the hell up, thief," the Raider growled.

"Stop being a coward, Raider," Gilbert smirked. "Besides," Gilbert leaned back, lacing his hands behind his head, "I'm a former thief. Those kinds of people are so much more badass, if you ask me. Always risking their lives, rather than just hiding in a crowd and playing cards while you wait for other people to die. Why don't you just kill me yourself? You'll get a higher reward."

"Don't worry about him," another Raider spoke up as he laid an Ace down on the pile of cards in the center. "The guy they sent to kill him should be here any minute."

"Well, damn, they work fast," Gilbert muttered, turning his attention to the game they were playing. They threw down random cards and Gilbert hummed out of pure boredom and nothing to do. One of the Raiders tossed down a Queen just as the heavy door suddenly burst open, a massive gust of fire spreading over the room. Gilbert immediately ducked out of the way but saw that the fire moved expertly out of the way of his cage. Another thing Gilbert noticed was that it wasn't as bright as the fire Arthur was using earlier, so that meant it either wasn't Arthur, or Arthur had calmed down enough to change personalities.

Gilbert waited, looking all around the borders of the cage as smoke clouded around him. He just wished that he could get out of there, but there was no magic, disappearing glass here, so the chance of him just getting out was extremely low. He would have to wait for someone to get him out, even if it was a Raider going around like an idiot and breaking the cage. Gilbert coughed slightly as the smoke got caught in his lungs, but his eyes quickly darted to movement on one side of the cage.

"You lot just have to make it hard to rescue you," Arthur's voice grumbled, barely heard through the sounds of the commotion the Raiders were making. The bars on the cage broke, flying towards Gilbert who moved easily out of their way before running towards the new opening.

"Thanks," Gilbert nodded to him through the smoke, fighting back a few coughs. "Where'd you put Birdie?"

"I made sure that he was in a safe place, don't worry," Arthur nodded to him stiffly, looking around them carefully. Gilbert did the same thing as well, he didn't need Raiders to sneak up on him, those damn cowards. They would probably take all of this smoke to their advantage and try to kill them before the thieves' guild could get him.

"You get Francis, I'll make sure Lili's safe," Gilbert stated. It was obvious neither of them were rescued yet and he figured he might as well do something.

"How do you intend to get her out?" Arthur asked. Gilbert paused for a moment, thinking through a plan quickly. Before he got very far in this thinking, however, a Raider came from behind and tried to attack him. Gilbert immediately elbowed him hard in the gut, reaching behind him and gripping onto the Raider's shirt and flipping him over, in front of him. Arthur took a startled step back as the man slammed hard onto the stone, his head hitting hard enough to at least knock him out. Gilbert smirked happily, this was one way to let off some steam now that he was irritated. Something caught his eye, though, as the smoke cleared slightly, on the man's belt. Gilbert smirked, kneeling down to rip it off before standing up and showing it to Arthur.

"I'll just use these," Gilbert smirked, jingling the keys in his hands.

"Thieves," Arthur muttered, walking past him.

"Former," Gilbert hummed as he walked away, towards where Lili was being held. He picked a random key to use first and walked to the cage. He could hear faint crying as the smoke dissipated even more. "Hey, kid, relax," Gilbert sighed as he stopped walking in front of the cage. The smoke cleared enough for him to see Lili sitting at the very back of it, hugging her knees close to her body. "No one's gonna hurt you, don't worry."

"I'm sorry," Lili attempted to smile through her tears at Gilbert and he sighed trying his key with the lock. It didn't work.

"Do me a favor and watch my back," Gilbert said, focusing on the keys. "That way we'll get through this quicker."

"Sure," Lili nodded faintly.

"Relax, in just a couple of minutes, we'll get you out of here and into the arms of Vash," Gilbert smirked, trying another key. It still didn't work. "Damn, this would be easier with magic like Arthur."

"Was he the one that broke in?" Lili asked with wide eyes, tears still running down her face.

"And be thankful it wasn't the prostitute," Gilbert smirked, the third key working as the door swung open, out of the cage. "Now, come on. We've gotta get out of here before the guy they sent to kill me and Francis gets here. I don't want you to die, too." Lili nodded before quickly getting to her feet and running up to him.

"They took my bow, i-if I could just get it, I could be useful," Lili muttered.

"We can try, I'm sure Francis would want to get his hands on a bow, too," Gilbert muttered, looking back, in the direction of the other two. The smoke was mostly cleared and it was rather odd that there were no more Raiders in the room. He could clearly see Francis and Arthur as they looked into the room.

"They might be out there in order to have better ground to capture us again," Francis muttered.

"I have no intention to allow that to happen to me again," Arthur muttered darkly. "What do we do?"

"Arthur and I can distract them," Gilbert stated. "Francis and Lili can go get bows, since I know that's the best thing you guys can do at this point if we want to fight our way out. I can handle myself in a fight, especially with Raiders, and Arthur has his magic. Once you guys get bows, we can make our way out of here. Maybe we'll be able to make it out of here before the thief that's gonna kill us is going to get here."

"Do you know who they are sending?" Arthur asked.

"Someone you're not gonna want to meet," Gilbert shook his head before walking to the door to the outside, which was slightly ajar. "Arthur, are you ready to fight?"

"Yes, I am," Arthur nodded, clenching his fists.

"Francis, I'll tell you to go when it's clear," Gilbert stated before quickly walking to the door. "Keep Lili safe and don't do anything stupid to her."

"It's strange how serious you can be when you have to be in charge of something," Francis chuckled and Gilbert rolled his eyes. True, he wasn't the best person when it came to fighting in the guild, but if it came down to leading a group, he could do pretty damn well. He could be serious if he wanted to be. The only reason he didn't take control of the group he was in was because Alfred would have thrown a fit about it.

The closer Gilbert got to the door, the more he heard…something. It was almost like a fight was happening all on its own out there. Was the rest of the group already there to get them back? No, they weren't competent enough to do that on their own. Gilbert chanced a look around the open door to glance at the scene just a few feet away. What he saw, though, made him drop his guard.

"Birdie?" Gilbert muttered quietly as he looked for a little longer. The Raiders were busy trying to fight off the blind boy, so he could chance taking so long to look. Matthew seemed to be a natural, almost as if he was in another world while he fought. Even with his unseeing eyes, Matthew blocked practically every hit aimed at him and hit right back, to the point of incapacitating every Raider within a few moves. It was…amazing. "Looks like we've got three people fighting to stall."

"Did someone else show up?" Arthur asked, walking up to him.

"Nah, just looks like you didn't lock Birdie up good enough," Gilbert smirked before slamming the door open. "Birdie, we got your back!"

Matthew jumped slightly, but stayed focused none the less.

"Franny, you get running now," Gilbert stated and the other three ran from the room. Francis immediately took off in the opposite direction of the action with Lili while Arthur stayed stunned for a moment, watching as Matthew fought. "Don't just stand there all day," Gilbert smirked.

"Fine," Arthur sighed before walking forward and, with a wave of his hand, caused a gust of wind that knocked several Raiders off their feet. There were quite a few Raiders around, most likely all of the people in the base were there or getting there. Gilbert made a move to join the fight, realizing a moment too late that there was a person behind him.

"Shit," Gilbert muttered as his hand was roughly pulled behind his back and a sharp knife placed over his neck. He had to make sure that he breathed slowly and evenly just to make sure that he wasn't cut. They were moved quickly and quietly into the shadows, just beyond where the fight was taking place. Arthur and Matthew were too engrossed in fighting and staying alive that they didn't notice anything.

"You still aren't very good at knowing your surroundings," the person behind him said. Gilbert recognized the voice immediately.

"Nope," Gilbert muttered. "Figured they'd send you. I just hoped you weren't close."

"I was going to go and get rid of the town they were attacking," the man sighed. "I don't like doing it, but it's for the best." Gilbert had to agree. One of the jobs of the thieves' guilds was to get rid of those temporary towns that lasted too long. It was to ensure that the population stayed stable and try to keep certain people together in hopes of making single, stable civilizations, like there supposedly were before things went to hell. The Raiders only did it for money, for the thieves, that was a bonus on the side.

"Is this for the best, too? "Gilbert asked. The man had no intention of killing him at that moment, but Gilbert knew that he could kill him at any moment. And there was absolutely no way for Gilbert to get out of it. He was going to have to let himself die as he watched his new friends fight for their lives. He was just thankful Matthew didn't have to see it.

"You know, a lot of people from the guild are terrified to meet you," the man said. "The ones that know your secret, at least. The rest would do anything for that kind of reward. Honestly, I'm one of those people that are terrified to see you."

"If it goes the way you think it will, then I'm guessing you'll have to leave," Gilbert smirked slightly.

"Anyone who sees you and fails to kill you will be hunted down by the guild," the man sighed. "Francis knows this well, he is on the list of those that need to be killed. There's a reason I'm going after you first, though. I couldn't kill him."

"Yet you're going to kill me," Gilbert sighed.

"Yeah," the man nodded. Neither men moved so much as an inch. Gilbert took a deep breath, bracing himself. This man would not hesitate to kill him. He was just stalling for time, simply just to talk with Gilbert one last time. "I'm sorry."

"I understand," Gilbert sighed. "If all goes well, I'll see you on the other side."

***Fallen Stars***

Francis decided not to look at Matthew as he fought so as not to distract himself and just ran, ensuring that Lili was close to him at all times, to ensure that Vash wouldn't do anything to him in the case that something happened to her. Francis had been in a few Raider hideouts, so he knew where to find certain things, as they were all laid out in the same way, more or less. He ran for a while, until Lili was out of breath, and they eventually reached a door, which Francis wrenched open to reveal a basic weapons room. No one was in there.

Francis worked quickly, searching through the bins to find hopefully two bows, preferably one that could fit Lili's small size. He knew that their group needed them quickly, since just three people could not take on a whole gang of Raiders. Then there was the fact that _he_ was coming to kill Gilbert and Francis. Not even a whole gang of Raiders could stand a chance against that one thief.

"I have found one bow," Francis sighed, coming up slightly short on his search. It was a small bow, too, so that meant Lili would have to have it. Francis could take that knife he had found earlier and mainly stay on the sidelines. He could still be useful to Arthur, who could really use the boost of magic, especially in his weaker personality like he was now. "We should go," Francis tossed the bow to Lili, shortly followed by the quiver of arrows. There weren't many, nor were they well made, but he expected no less from a group of Raiders.

"Right," Lili nodded, pulling the quiver over her shoulder and holding onto the bow tightly. She looked a lot more sure of herself with a weapon in her hand, though it did not suit her.

"Don't tell Vash I supported you killing people," Francis sighed, patting her head as they quickly left the room. They were running again, back to the fight. Francis just had to hope that their group would be doing fine and Gilbert would still be alive. As he rounded the last corner, he stopped dead in his tracks. In the shadows just beyond the fight that Matthew was obviously winning with Arthur's help, Gilbert was standing still and quiet, a shining knife pressed against his neck. The person behind him stood with a serious face, something that did not suit him, but the world. His dark brown hair and green eyes were cast in shadows and he let out a sigh.

"Antonio!" Francis yelled out, but he was too late. The man had sliced his knife across Gilbert's neck, causing crimson to pour out. Gilbert gagged and twitched slightly before he fell onto the ground. Matthew and Arthur continued to fight while Lili screamed. "Gilbert…" Francis muttered, staring at Gilbert's lifeless body. "Come back, please."

*****Fallen Stars*****

**Oh, I feel so evil. This chapter took a long time for me to write, and I blame Gilbert for that, but I don't know why. Maybe I should just blame myself. It's funny because I wrote most of this while re-watching Death Note(I am in the process of finally finishing it after about two years of actually starting it, don't judge me) and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Antonio has finally been introduced, people have been anticipating it for quite some time. Are you all satisfied now?**

**Anyway, remember the contest, some people have gotten kind of close, but nothing's really scraped the surface yet!**

**And please review! (P.S. please don't kill me for killing Gilbert. I have my reasons.)**


	11. Life

**Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.  
-Sholom Aleichen**

*****Fallen Stars*****

Arthur froze when he heard the scream. Matthew nearly did, but he continued to fight, though slightly distracted. Arthur looked over in the direction of the scream and nearly screamed himself. Gilbert was being held by a man he hadn't seen before, though it was obvious he was a thief. A knife had just been forcefully dragged across his neck. Gilbert's mouth opened in a silent scream as blood poured out of his neck, the same color as his eyes. The man let go and Gilbert fell to the floor, his dead face staring in the direction of the fight.

Someone gripped harshly onto Arthur's arm and forced him to look away. Arthur thrust his hand forward, causing ice to push out and slam into the man. He wasn't dead, but he would be if he continued to bleed, so Arthur used his mediocre healing arts to close the wounds. He looked back at Gilbert and could see Francis and Lili just beyond them. Lili was sobbing and Francis was muttering something under his breath.

Arthur couldn't believe it. Gilbert couldn't actually be…dead.

"What is it?" Matthew asked, barely blocking attacks from five Raiders at once. Arthur made a few of them knock into each other, leading Matthew to have to fight only one, which he easily took down. "What happened?"

"It's Gilbert," Arthur muttered. He was so shocked, he could almost feel his other personality creeping in. He was equally shocked, though he was almost feeling a sense of happiness.

"What about him?" Matthew's eyes went wide and he took a punch directly to his face and stumbled backwards. "Tell me; what is it?" Matthew asked, attacking the Raider in turn.

"He's…" Arthur muttered, looking back to the man, his blood pooling around him. The odd part was, the man who had killed him, as well as Francis, were not taking their eyes off of him, as if they were waiting for something. Arthur almost gave the news when something happened. A massive amount of magic energy burst out of Gilbert's body and he spasmed. His red eyes shimmered gold and the magic in the air nearly made Arthur topple over. The magic was so thick that Arthur could practically see it and it centered completely around Gilbert, as if it were a protective barrier, before all of it entered into his wound on his neck. It closed almost immediately. "He's alive."

Gilbert gasped for air, his eyes blank as the gold disappeared. He looked in the direction of Matthew still and Francis looked almost relieved. The man that had tried to kill Gilbert smiled.

"What's going on?" Matthew asked, panting from exhaustion as he continued to fight. Arthur found that he couldn't look away from the scene unfolding before him. Only a few of the Raiders were smart enough to run away from it.

Suddenly, Gilbert turned onto his side, his back to the fight, and his hands gripping hard onto his neck.

"Arthur!" Matthew snapped. "Tell me what is happening!" It was the loudest Arthur had heard his voice and it startled him. He noticed that tears were streaming down Matthew's face, bruises covering his body completely as he panted.

"Wait just a moment," Arthur muttered and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Not only was there left over magic energy from what happened to Gilbert, but Francis was also there to boost his own magic abilities. His arm moved on its own, in a magic circle, before his hand moved forward at the same moment that Arthur opened his eyes. All of the Raiders dropped to the ground, unconscious. Then, Arthur dropped to his knees, nearly all of his energy depleted in that one moment. "Gilbert is just behind me. Ask the people around him what has happened."

"What did you do?" Matthew asked, stepping backwards slowly, as if to make sure no one was attacking him.

"Don't worry about it," Arthur mumbled and Matthew nodded before running in the direction of the group behind them. Arthur cursed silently, punching into the stone below him. In that one moment of surprise, the other personality had nearly taken over. He couldn't allow himself to be so careless. The amount of times he'd allowed the personality to come out were weakening his resolve. He couldn't allow himself to disappear.

***Fallen Stars***

Gilbert wanted to scream in pain, but he knew better. This had happened to him enough so that he knew what to do. He had been killed by a wound to his neck, if he screamed, he would only make things worse. He looked at Matthew as he fell to the ground, the last of his breath leaving him with his blood. He knew from the moment that Antonio cut into his throat that he would come back. He didn't know how to explain it, but he just got this feeling when he died.

He watched as Matthew fought, taking hit after hit.

_Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. You must…_ that one word was always omitted from his memories… _but not yet._

Gilbert still couldn't move after he gasped for breath. His brain still wasn't fit to function. Arthur was looking directly at him, as if he was mesmerized. It took a few more seconds for Gilbert's brain to begin functioning. First, the pain came, but Gilbert couldn't move. Despite the fact that he knew his neck was completely healed, he was in searing pain. It was almost too much for him to bear.

The moment he could move, Gilbert turned onto his side, his hands immediately going to his neck as he fought against screaming in the pain. He wasn't fit to talk, so he knew better than to say anything to Francis as he knelt beside him. He gasped for breath as he laid there, recovering from his death.

"...alive?" Lili muttered, her muddled voice finally getting to Gilbert's ears.

"No one knows how it happens," Francis explained, his voice slowly becoming clear in Gilbert's mind.

"So, he just doesn't die?" Lili asked.

"He does," Antonio said. "He just comes back."

"What's going on?" Matthew asked, panting as he came closer to them. "Arthur's not explaining anything to me. What happened to Gilbert?"

Gilbert couldn't help but smile slightly. He had died while looking straight at Matthew. That kid actually turned out to be his last thought before he died. Through the rush and everything that had just happened in the last few seconds, Gilbert was sure of it now. He was in love with Matthew. Now he just had to hope that the kid would like him back.

"He died," Antonio explained. "But you shouldn't worry, he's completely back to normal now."

"It'll take a while to get there," Gilbert muttered, his voice mangled slightly and he winced at the pain in his throat.

"Who are you?" Matthew asked.

"That is Antonio," Francis explained. "He came here through our thieves' guild to kill Gilbert and myself."

"And since I failed, I'm now a target of the guild as well," Antonio said happily and Gilbert sighed slightly. Gilbert had no idea how the man could go from killing someone to being so perky all the time. "So now I have to ask why a group like you is travelling together."

"Gilbert," Matthew muttered and Gilbert felt someone's hands on his arm. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Gilbert muttered. "Don't worry about me, Birdie."

"But you just died," Matthew muttered.

"And I came back," Gilbert assured him. "Just give a few minutes and I'll be fine."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Matthew asked quietly.

"I've been through worse," Gilbert muttered. That was true. There had been people that tried to kill him several times in a row, in fact, generally anyone that tried to kill him in the past and failed tried to kill him several times in a row. That was why Gilbert usually went with other people on dangerous missions that could cost him his life…again. The day Gilbert figured it out, he'd been as terrified as the other people around him. Now, it was just a fact that he couldn't avoid, that he just had to try to live with.

"Did it say the same thing again?" Francis asked, bringing Gilbert's attention back to the main conversation.

"Not yet," Gilbert muttered, quoting that damn voice in his head that followed him into his dreams and into death. "Not yet."

"What?" Matthew asked.

"We don't really understand it, either," Antonio said.

"If we want to get out of here, now would be the time," Arthur muttered tiredly. "Every Raider that was even nearby this hideout is knocked out. With any luck, some of them won't even have memories. We should leave now."

"I can't move," Gilbert muttered. It took quite some time for him to be able to walk after dying and coming back. Francis and Antonio knew it all too well. They'd had to carry him out of many situations before.

"We'll help you," Antonio said happily.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Arthur asked coldly.

"I failed to kill a person that left my guild," Antonio said as Gilbert felt two pairs of hands pull him onto his feet by his arms. "You take my word that I will join your group. I have nothing else to do and it seems that Gilbert and Francis are in your group, so it can't be that bad."

"No one can take a thief's word for anything," Arthur stated.

"Antonio is the only person I've ever met that's never lied," Gilbert stated, looking at the ground since it took far too much effort to try to look up. "I'd trust him with my life."

"But he just killed you," Matthew argued.

"That just proves it more, doesn't it?" Gilbert smirked. He could barely stand on his feet, but his two friends moved his arms over his shoulders in an attempt to help him.

"In any case, I'm not sure how long my spell will work," Arthur sighed. "Alfred can decide if he trusts you enough to keep you around."

"Again, I'd like to point out the fact that I never participated in that vote for him being the leader," Gilbert muttered.

"Yet you don't bother to take control when I know you can," Francis chuckled.

"How are we going to find them?" Lili asked quietly.

"As long as they're not idiots," Arthur sighed and they started walking. Gilbert's legs were wobbly and didn't work very well underneath him, but he stayed up thanks to his friends, "they'll be at least trying to find us. And it's not like Raiders keep themselves hidden. They'll at least get the town right. Were any of you awake when they took us?"

"We're near the next town after where the temporary one was," Gilbert reported, his breath returning to him. Still, his legs refused to work properly.

"So we're close to King Mathias," Matthew muttered.

"What are you going there for?" Antonio laughed. "I doubt he'll listen to you."

"Alfred wants to change the world," Francis mused. "Ivan told us that Mathias would be our best choice to go in order to change something, if anything."

"What's your plan to get into the protected town around his castle?" Antonio asked.

"There isn't one," Gilbert shrugged.

"You should turn left up here," Francis advised and Gilbert remembered that Francis had been into more than a couple Raider hideouts on a couple of jobs. "All Raider hideouts are the same."

"I am not going to ask why you know that," Arthur muttered. Gilbert attempted to stand on a foot by himself, but he failed and nearly fell if it weren't for Antonio's iron grip on his arm.

"Just take it slow, my friend," Antonio advised queitly. "You don't need to protect your love yet."

"How do you know?" Gilbert looked up at him.

"He was who you looked to when you died," Antonio smiled. "I can tell these things. I'm sure Francis already noticed it."

"Oh, I could tell when I first joined the group," Francis chimed. Gilbert was thankful that they were talking quietly, to the point that no one could hear them. That was one thing they had mastered when it came to the thieves' guild.

"Well, shut up about it," Gilbert grumbled.

"So, what's up with the wizard?" Antonio asked curiously. Gilbert noticed that Matthew was busy talking innocently with Lili, and Arthur was busy walked ahead of them, staying quiet. "He was a prostitute, right?"

"Yeah," Gilbert nodded. "He's one of those with two personalities."

"That explains a lot," Antonio nodded. "That's why he's so reserved."

"His other personality is quite the opposite," Francis laughed quietly. "He was obviously very highly ranked as a prostitute. His magic is also quite impressive. Far more so than the original."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Gilbert smirked. "I'm sure his pride alone would be enough to kill you."

"You lot can stop gossiping now," Arthur sighed and pushed open a door ahead of them that Gilbert hadn't noticed before then. Outside, the trees of the nearby enchanted forest was turning red with the setting sun.

"Oh, yeah, figured I should warn you," Gilbert laughed slightly. "We like to travel through the forests."

"Are you guys crazy?" Antonio's eyes widened. Gilbert couldn't help but laugh at that. Hardly any of the thieves were brave enough to go into the forests. They apparently didn't like thieves and there were way too many horror stories about thieves that were killed in the forest. Gilbert was antsy about it in the first place and he had no idea how Francis had the guts to follow them into the forest himself. But Antonio tried the best he could to avoid the forest, even going through paths that some wizards had made through the forests.

"There are plenty of people that we travel with that the forest appears to like," Arthur assured him, looking around. "Where would the town be?"

"Raiders are idiots," Francis chuckled. "There's probably a thin barrier of forest between us and the next town over."

"Then we should get moving," Arthur stated and walked towards the forest. The small group of thieves were uneasy and moved at the back of the group, Matthew and Lili in the middle with Arthur in the front. Gilbert continued to try to test his legs to see if he could move properly, but found that he really couldn't. It might take a whole day this time. Hopefully he'd be okay after he had a night's rest.

"How many more people are in your group?" Antonio asked curiously.

"Two," Gilbert smirked. "They apparently weren't worth anything to the Raiders."

"One of them has a working gun," Francis said and Antonio's interest grew.

"You seem to be getting very good people in your group," Antonio smiled. "A powerful wizard with two personalities, a blind man that can fight, a man with a gun, a man that can't die, and a man that can boost magic."

"What can I say?" Gilbert shrugged. "We're lucky."

"What about this Alfred?" Antonio asked. "Does he have something special about him?"

"He has a beautiful, enchanted sword," Francis mused. "But the only ones that can touch it are himself and Matthew."

"Don't forget we also have Ivan and his sister," Gilbert stated. "They're just not in our group now."

"Do you just get every person you meet to join your group?" Antonio laughed.

"Blame our almighty leader, Alfred," Gilbert smirked. "He's the one that's roping in every person that has feelings."

"His ideal is interesting, I will give him that," Francis shrugged. Arthur turned after a short while of being in the forest. Gilbert assumed that it was because he was trying to find where the town was. "But it is not very realistic, especially to accomplish in one lifetime."

"What is this ideal?" Antonio asked curiously.

"We'll let him explain that," Gilbert said. "He's our group's little preacher. I can't wait to see him try to explain it to Mathias."

Finally, Arthur turned out of the forest and the thieves were given a chance to relax as they stepped out and towards the nearby town. Already, Gilbert could see the small group of prostitutes that Arthur notably avoided and people rushing around for no reason in particular. A town so close to a castle with a king in it had to be busy, but not so late in the day. People this close generally had the luxury of being able to sleep at sundown, but they had to wake up even before the sun rose.

"Think you could stand on your own yet?" Francis asked.

"I've been trying," Gilbert shook his head. "God, I hate dying."

"Well, most people don't come back," Francis laughed. "You should be a little thankful."

"Toni, why did you kill me if you knew that I was going to just come back?" Gilbert asked Antonio, who shrugged simply.

"There's always the chance that you won't," he said without much hesitation.

"I could not kill you was for that same reason," Francis sighed slightly.

"Don't I just have the best friends?" Gilbert laughed, looking over at Matthew, who was innocently smiling as he looked absently over at Lili, who was talking about nothing in particular. Anything that would distract them from the world as it was now. Gilbert envied their ability to do that, he would give anything to be able to just forget about all the shit going on for even a few minutes.

"We could always be better and help you get your boy," Francis teased quietly and Gilbert rolled his eyes. They walked into the town, hardly anyone paying any mind to the people in front of them. All of them looked at Gilbert, though. There wasn't a single person that he'd seen with white hair and red eyes, so every town, without fail, would stare at him.

"Don't worry too much about it," Gilbert muttered. The way he saw it, there was no room for love or anything like that in this fucking world. He wasn't about to distract himself or Matthew with something stupid like love, anyway.

"The way I see it," Antonio whispered as someone loud and obnoxious began forcing his way through the crowd, "everything's so fucked up, you need something nice like love in there to make everything bearable. If you keep letting him go, you'll lose him eventually."

"Why the hell are you so positive?" Gilbert couldn't help but smile. He'd never thought about it like that. He saw Alfred break through the crowd, several angry people yelling and snapping at him. He pulled Matthew into a hug, which Matthew returned with a simple laugh. Alfred looked him over, yelling at every bruise he found. Gilbert saw Arthur glancing back at Alfred and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Why not be positive?" Antonio chuckled as Alfred looked over at them. It took the idiot a few moments to register what was going on before he stormed on over to them.

"Look out, preacher's coming," Gilbert snickered.

"Wow, I've never seen twins before," Antonio muttered, tilting his head slightly as he finally noticed the likeness between Matthew and Alfred.

*****Fallen Stars*****

**God, I had no idea what to do with the ending. They had to get somewhere and get back to Alfred, but I seriously was at a loss of what to do, mainly dialogue wise. Luckily the dynamic between Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis is so good… Oh, and Gilbert's actually not dead. Who saw that coming? (Practically every reviewer.) Hehehe…I like messing with people… Anyway, there were a few things in this chapter and the last chapter combined that go towards that plot twist in the future. Next chapter, there will be a few more and I think we'll get around to meeting Mathias, or at least getting close.**

**And please review! It's totes awesome!**


	12. Feel

**The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.  
-Helen Keller**

*****Fallen Stars*****

Matthew couldn't help but be interested. Their group kept on getting new members that seemed to agree with Alfred. A lot of them were there simply because it was the better option, the thieves, for instance, but that didn't make them any less a part of the team. In fact, having Antonio around made people open up slightly. Alfred seemed to like him, despite the fact that he was a thief, and laughed and joked with him around the fire they had made in the forest just beyond the town they were in. It wasn't very cold that night, so Matthew sat a little outside the range of the fire to let other people warm up. He didn't mind being alone so much, as long as he knew other people were close by. Hearing them laugh and yell at each other brought a smile to his face.

"So, wait until you hear the story of Gilbert trying to take on the leader of the warrior women, Elizaveta," Antonio could barely hold back his laughter.

"I told you to shut the fuck up," Gilbert groaned.

"So, while I was being smart and going for their archers so that we would have a better advantage on the ground," Antonio continued anyway and Francis snickered. Matthew smiled fondly, "this idiot thinks he's got a chance to go against Elizaveta, but he definitely doesn't, he would have gotten shot with arrows about ten times if it weren't for me and the girls on the ground were hot on his trail, so I had to shoot them. And do you know what Elizaveta does when he gets up to her?"

"I think we can stop there," Gilbert protested.

"Shush," Francis advised and Alfred was obviously stifling his own laughter.

"She doesn't even hit him very hard," Antonio paused for a bit after that, laughing so hard he could hardly talk. "She just flicks her skillet at him and he gets knocked out!" Alfred burst out laughing and Matthew giggled. Lili did as well from the other end of the fire while Arthur and Vash stayed mostly silent. The rest, however, were laughing as hard as they could. All, save for Gilbert.

"You just didn't feel her full strength," Gilbert grumbled.

"Who do you think had to take her on after you passed out?" Antonio laughed. "I brought her to the owner of the land, like we were paid to do. I had half a mind to keep all the profits because you were so useless!"

"Not like that fucking wuss would have paid me anyway," Gilbert muttered under his breath.

"What was his name, anyway? "Antonio wondered. "Didn't we agree that he was Francis' type or something? It would have been hilarious to see the two meet."

"I dunno," Gilbert sighed. "Some lame name like Rod or something, not like it matters. Never seeing them again, anyway."

"We should tell him about when Gilbert came back crawling after fighting off that 10-year-old wizard," Francis snickered and Antonio burst into laughter again.

"That story's great!" Antonio laughed.

"Fuck it," Gilbert groaned and Matthew hear footsteps coming towards him. "Oi, Birdie, you wanna take a walk with me?"

"Why?" Matthew asked, not even paying attention to the new story that already had Alfred laughing.

"No reason, I'm just tired of those bastards making fun of me," Gilbert sighed, but it was in good nature. "Besides, I like you…r company. I promise we won't go far."

"Alright," Matthew muttered. He knew that if his brother saw them going into the forest together, he would start snapping and go on and on about how Matthew shouldn't even be associating with someone like him. However, Alfred seemed very intent on the story, interrupting here and there to ask questions, so Matthew figured it was safe to go. He followed Gilbert closely as they walked in silence, which was odd considering Gilbert was there. "Did you wanna talk about something?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Gilbert laughed slightly and Matthew giggled. He sounded nervous, which was weird. "Uh, I'm…uh, I'm sorry if you saw me die. Shit, I mean, you didn't, obviously. But sorry if you were…worried."

"What has you so nervous?" Matthew laughed slightly. Gilbert stopped and so Matthew did as well. It was slightly more humid, making him think that they were near a pond or something. He couldn't hear anything but the forest shifting slightly in the wind as Gilbert stood in silence.

"Okay, well, this is gonna sound stupid," Gilbert sighed, shuffling slightly. "Just let me get it all out before you say anything, alright?" Matthew nodded slowly, wishing he could see Gilbert's expression since his voice wasn't giving much away. "So, I figured out basically when I met you that I liked you. I mean, you're fucking adorable and awesome, so obviously I would like you. But then I died and I looked at you and that made me figure out that I basically love you." At this point, Gilbert was talking really quickly and Matthew was too stunned to say anything in return. "I mean, you don't have to like me back or anything and it shouldn't even be our priority because this world's shit, I know. But I just figured that I should get it out now before it starts to distract me, I swear this will be the last time."

"Wait," Matthew muttered.

"Don't worry, you don't even have to say anything," Gilbert continued quickly. "But I have a few more things to say so just, please, hear me out. Even if you don't like me back or anything, I still want to do something. Well, more like I kinda need to, don't worry about it, I'm impulsive. Awesomely, of course. I just wanted to promise you one thing."

Matthew held his breath on that one. Everyone felt like they needed to protect him and Matthew figured that Gilbert was different, but if he was about to promise something, and it had to do with the fact that Gilbert thought he was in love with Matthew, then it would probably be about protecting him. Matthew had felt himself grow some feelings for the thief, but he always felt something holding him back, maybe it was because of the fact that he was a thief, but he wasn't sure. If he was about to promise to protect him, just like Alfred, though, Matthew knew that he would just have to let it go.

"I'll never leave you alone," at this point, Gilbert slowed down and Matthew felt his eyes widen in surprise. That, he wasn't expecting. "I've…never been blind, I don't know how it feels to not be able to see, but I know what it's like to be alone and I don't want you to feel that. You shouldn't feel that, no one should. It's enough to be alone to the point that you can't see anyone, but to have no one near you is horrible. So, regardless of what you think of me, I will keep that promise, I swear. Starting now, you'll never be alone again."

Matthew wanted to smile, but found himself unable to move. He wanted to kiss Gilbert but was too afraid that he would miss and make a fool of himself. He wanted to cry, he was so happy, but the tears were stuck in his eyes. He wanted to say something, but found himself speechless. Luckily, it seemed that Gilbert wasn't quite done.

"And I know this is really impulsive," Gilbert said nervously, "but, hell, I'm me, so it's fine. You don't have to return it or anything, it'll just get it out of my system and I'll get out of your hair and you can still close to your brother for all I care." And then Gilbert was silent. Matthew was curious as to what he had planned, but every thought in his head vanished the second something touched his lips.

Matthew immediately recognized them as other lips and quickly put the pieces together. Gilbert was kissing him. The second Matthew tried to kiss back, Gilbert leaned back. Matthew felt slightly dizzy and he didn't know why, but he had to give Gilbert some kind of response. Now that he knew, more or less, where Gilbert's lips were, He gripped onto the back of Gilbert's head, his fingers threading through his hair, and pulling him back, their lips colliding clumsily.

As Gilbert kissed him back, something happened. Matthew wasn't quite sure, but it felt something like a spark and it made everything hazy. All that mattered was Gilbert, who seemed to be as clumsy as Matthew at this. Gilbert's hands slowly moved to Matthew's own head, pulling him closer lightly as Matthew hummed slightly. Another spark came and Matthew lost himself for a moment. When he came back, he already felt Gilbert's tongue exploring his mouth, though he didn't mind it, rather he allowed it.

Gilbert pulled back eventually, panting for breath as Matthew gasped for his own. Gilbert wasn't too far, his breath puffing slightly into Matthew's face before he pulled him into a breathless hug.

"Damn, you're good at that," Gilbert muttered.

"You know, you're not bad, either," Matthew smirked slightly before hugging him a little tighter. "You better not break that promise."

"Never," Gilbert said, hugging Matthew closer in return. "Not even when I die for real."

***Fallen Stars***

"So this is the wall around King Mathias' town, huh?" Antonio wondered, walking close to the massive wall in front of them. It was several feet high, with a sharp fencing over the top. It was made of blank concrete and Alfred placed his hand on it, looking up to the top. There was no way they were making it over that, so that meant they had to find the opening and somehow make it through, into the town. This guy was a King, he had entire guilds protecting him, filled with all kinds of people.

"So, what's your ingenious plan to get us through?" Arthur asked behind him and Alfred sighed.

"I'm working on that part," Alfred muttered, running his hand over the concrete. He glanced over at Gilbert, who was close to Matthew, talking about something Alfred couldn't hear. Those two had been annoyingly close since the night before and it was making him mad. Something happened when they both disappeared for a few minutes and he wanted to know what, but Matthew had fallen asleep too soon. To make matters worse, Matthew even slept beside Gilbert. The only thing that Alfred had as a sense of security was the fact that Matthew still didn't face his back to him.

"Then focus on the wall, not your brother," Arthur commented and Alfred growled, looking back to the old cement. Apparently, this wall had been in place for centuries. There were a few other old monuments that served as places for castles for make-shift Kings to live in, but most of them were buildings, not walls. Apparently, the inside of the wall was a sight to see.

"Anyway to use magic to get us over?" Alfred asked hopefully, looking back at Arthur who stared at him.

"If you want to be obvious and shot with arrows, yes," Arthur rolled his eyes. "It would be more realistic to go through the front opening of the wall at this rate."

"What did you do when you got me out of that cage in the Raiders' hideout?" Matthew asked simply.

"Clever," Arthur nodded, placing his own hand on the concrete. "If I focus, I could get us through the wall. We could find a location close to a tree, which should be rather easy since it borders a forest, and we can enter like that. We just have to ensure that people stay quiet," Arthur looked at Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio. "That means the trio."

"Just the trio?" Gilbert snorted. "We need a more awesome name than that."

"Worry about that later," Vash advised. "If we have a way in now, we should do it."

"Any better ideas, Alfred?" Arthur raised an eyebrow at Alfred, who shrugged. He wasn't about to come up with an idea any time soon and going through the wall was the best way to go about it. "Then let's allow the leader to go first."

"We gotta have that vote soon," Gilbert commented as Arthur held onto Alfred's wrist tightly. Alfred couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Hold your breath," Arthur muttered and Alfred obeyed, holding his breath as Arthur walked right into the wall before disappearing into it. Alfred first watched his wrist disappear into the concrete before he followed it. There was a short period of time where he saw nothing before he came out, nearly walking face-first into a tree. Alfred took his breath back, looking up at the brightly colored tree. "Don't make yourself obvious," Arthur muttered before leaving.

Alfred laughed slightly before turning around to face the wall. He felt his jaw drop as he stared at what was in front of him. All kinds of images and words were strewn across it, from top to bottom. They were incredibly colorful, as if they were made just seconds ago, but none of it was art that he had seen on things that his dad had shown him. There were people or symbols he didn't understand, all of them decorating the wall as far as he could see.

Arthur came through it a few seconds later, Matthew appearing with him.

"Mattie, I wish you could see this," Alfred mused as Arthur disappeared again.

"What is it?" Matthew asked curiously, looking in the wrong direction.

"No way to describe it," Alfred shook his head. The more he looked at it, the more he felt…something. It was almost like there was magic on the walls, giving off waves of a kind of grief and sorrow. "It's like it's giving off emotion."

Gilbert came with Arthur next and he laughed at Alfred, as he stared at the wall.

"First time you've seen it?" Gilbert asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I remember when I first saw it, came here for a job."

"Let me guess, you got your ass kicked?" Alfred smirked and Gilbert glared at him.

Arthur continued to move back and forth, each time looking more and more tired until he came through with Vash and leaned against the wall, panting slightly.

"You okay, Artie?" Alfred asked and Arthur nodded faintly. "You don't look okay."

"Then why the hell did you ask?" Arthur asked. He paused for a moment and Alfred noticed his eyes turn a darker green, so he stepped back. "Dammit, he just doesn't know anything about his limits, does he? Dipshit."

"Antonio, I don't think you've met our prostitute," Gilbert laughed, nudging his friend in the side. Arthur glanced at Antonio boredly, giving him a faint nod.

"You know, I could always stick you in that bloody wall," Arthur threated with a smirk. "I would love to hear those screams of agony coming from a man that can't die."

"We'll see what Gilbird has to say about something like that when you do it," Gilbert smiled.

"Oh, I would love to see that dragon of yours," Arthur said simply before walking past Francis, dragging him by his arm further into the bustling town just a few feet from them.

"How has that personality not taken over the other one?" Antonio wondered out loud.

"What?" Alfred asked.

"Well, a head only has room for one personality," Antonio shrugged as Vash held onto Lili's hand to keep her close. "Generally, in cases like this, one personality wins out eventually. It's obvious that the prostitute is more prominent, so I can't help but wonder why he hasn't won yet."

"I'd personally prefer the one that's not a dick," Gilbert grumbled.

"It's like you guys want one of them to die," Alfred stated and the two looked at him.

"It's just one personality," Gilbert scoffed.

"Both of them have a right to live," Alfred protested. "Both of them are Arthur, they both have a right to stay in that body. Don't go rooting for one side to win."

"Didn't realize you were Mr. Sensitive," Gilbert teased.

"How would you feel if I was going around, betting on which time you would actually die?" Alfred muttered before turning to face the town. The castle on the inside stood proudly around the rest of the town and he started walking, the rest following him closely behind, even Gilbert.

"You'd lose a hell of a lot of money," Gilbert smirked. "Plenty of people have, including Antonio."

*****Fallen Stars*****

**Sorry this chapter's shorter. There just wasn't a lot that I could do with it. If I included Mathias, it wouldn't have turned out well at this point, trust me. I have to figure more things out. Oh, and PruCan, because PruCan. I like to think of Gilbert as the kind of person that would figure out things pretty quick and then would be quick to say what he wants about it, so if he likes a person, he'll be quick to tell them. And he's awkward because he's Gilbert. I'm trying to make the USUK move faster, but Arthur's being a butt about it, so that'll happen eventually. And those people that are confused on whether or not USUK or FrUK will be in the end, take a look at the pairings and the main characters in my story description.**

**I'm starting to think my regular writing schedule has turned into updating twice each weekend. I hope you guys don't mind that, it's just the way things are turning out!**

**Please review!**


	13. Value

**Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.  
-Albert Einstein**

*****Fallen Stars*****

Alfred grumbled to himself incoherently, glaring at the stupid, thick, wooden door daring to stand in his way. Knowing it was useless, Alfred punched at the door, receiving a massive amount of pain to his fist as he did so.

"No need to be angry," Arthur teased behind him. "It should stand to reason that a King wouldn't meet with a few, insignificant people."

"Yeah, well, we need to talk to him somehow," Alfred turned around to glare at the wizard, who was currently laughing annoyingly. The rest of the group stood around them. "That way, we can get to be somebodies rather than nobodies."

"A king on our side would improve our odds with accomplishing anything," Francis sighed. "But there would be no way in."

"Unless we break in," Antonio offered. "We do have a handful of thieves, after all."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea," Alfred said sarcastically. "Let's break into a freaking castle and have to fight basically everyone in the vicinity!"

"Not like we can't handle it," Arthur smirked.

"Last time we took on a big group, one of us died," Alfred stated. "I would prefer that didn't happen again."

"He came back," Arthur scoffed.

"I would kinda prefer to not die again, personally," Gilbert chimed in, raising his hand. "Coming back doesn't mean it doesn't suck."

"Uh, what are you guys doing?" someone asked casually and everyone in the group looked over at him. He was leaning against the wall of the castle with a smirk on his face. He was dressed like any other person walking around in the town, which meant he was absolutely useless when it came to talking to the temporary king. He had bright blonde hair and dark blue eyes along with a smile that could make anyone cheery, just being around him.

"Trying to talk to the King," Alfred muttered, turning back to the door, arms crossed over his chest. "But looks like the dick isn't in the mood to talk to a couple of nobodies."

"Hey, Kings are busy guys," the man shrugged, standing up from the wall. "I haven't seen you guys around before, did you break in or something?"

"Long story," Alfred muttered.

"What's the point in hiding it?" Arthur groaned. "You know, you're attitude can get very annoying."

"Are you really so sure about what you talked about earlier, Alfred?" Gilbert muttered.

"Looks like you've got a little dissent in your team," the man smirked.

"That's what you get when you get so many people together," Antonio shrugged happily. "You should look at some thieves' guilds. Raiders aren't too much better."

"Well, I figure I should tell you, since you're new here," the man shrugged, still smiling. "The King doesn't get a lot of time to see anyone. He's busy with a ton of shit, pretty much all the time. Hardly anyone in town has seen him."

"So breaking in would be our best option," Francis shrugged.

"You guys may look like thieves, but there's no way anyone's breaking into that place," the man laughed. "By the way, if you guys are gonna go walking around and try to be sneaky, try not to make it obvious. I mean, the boots make it obvious, considering not everyone can get their hands on those kinds of things. So, what, is the blind kid a thief too? Along with your leader?"

"Never in a million years," Alfred growled. "We got the boots from a thief we robbed a while ago."

"How long ago?" Antonio asked and Gilbert's attention piqued, for some reason or another.

"A few years, I guess," Alfred muttered, glancing down at his weathered boots. Matthew's weren't much better, but they lasted a long time. Arthur, Vash, and Lili didn't have boots, but Alfred noticed that the man in front of them did have boots, something he was very relaxed about.

"Did you get them from a blonde guy?" Gilbert smirked. "Really muscular, not a lot of emotions unless he's pissed?"

"I think," Alfred muttered and Gilbert burst out laughing. "It was a long time ago, why is this so important?"

"Oh, Gott, just wait 'till I tell him that he lost those boots from a couple of kids!" Gilbert held onto his stomach, he was laughing so hard.

"Need I remind you that, if whoever you're talking about is a thief, at least one of you will be on the track of death when you see him?" Arthur asked with a smirk and Gilbert stopped, his eyes going wide, before he glared at Arthur.

"Don't make me hurt you," Gilbert growled. Alfred was a little curious about what made him so mad all of a sudden, but there was a more pressing matter at hand.

"If you're so knowledgeable," Alfred turned to the man, "do you know any way to talk to the King?"

"If anyone knew that, you would see a line here," the man shrugged. "Hey, how about I show you guys around town, to kill some time? It wouldn't hurt, right?"

"I see no point in wasting my time with anyone here," Arthur scoffed.

"Why, because there's no one here to molest?" Gilbert smirked. "Maybe you should just let the other one come out to play, at least he won't be bored."

"I would never voluntarily give him control, I'm no idiot," Arthur narrowed his eyes at him. "That's one difference between the two of us."

"Fuck it, I'll go with you," Alfred groaned, walking up to the man. "I think my team needs some time apart to cool off."

"Oi, Birdie, you wanna go with your brother?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow at Matthew, who thought for a moment. Alfred sighed slightly, noting his hesitation. He hated how close his brother was getting to a thief, of all people. When they disappeared the night before, Alfred had half a mind to follow them. Luckily, they came back and Matthew was smiling, otherwise, Gilbert wouldn't have survived the next day.

"I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with you," Matthew smiled innocently, unaware of the obvious glare Alfred was giving Gilbert, who smirked in return. It was like the thief was making fun of him. There was no way Alfred could trust him with his brother. Matthew walked towards the man and held out his hand. "My name is Matthew. Yours?"

"Micheal," the man responded, almost hesitantly as he shook Matthew's hand and Alfred immediately wondered why he would hesitate. If it was a fake name, what would he have to lie about?

"Alfred," Alfred sighed, not bothering with a handshake. He glanced behind himself to see the others split up. The trio of thieves ran off somewhere, Gilbert with a smirk on his face, while Vash and Lili calmly walked off. Arthur, looking very bored, swiftly turned around and towards the middle of the town. Alfred hoped he wouldn't cause any trouble.

"You could use some help with that team of yours," Micheal laughed, patting Alfred on the back before walking ahead of them. "Then again, it's really freaking hard to get that many people on board the same way. Why are you guys a team, anyway? It's obvious you don't have anything to give those thieves in return."

"It's a…long story," Alfred sighed.

"Lucky for you, we've got a lot of time," Micheal smiled back.

"It's pretty obvious to everyone that this world's shit," Alfred started. "I became painfully aware of that a little while ago. So I decided I was going to try to change it. I know I can't do it alone, so I've been getting people that seem to agree with me, some of which I'm not very proud of having on my team, like those thieves."

"Gilbert and the others-"

"Are thieves," Alfred finished for Matthew.

"Were," Matthew corrected him forcefully and Alfred was genuinely surprised. He'd never heard his brother so loud since what happened to him. And he was defending Gilbert, of all people.

"So," Micheal cleared his throat and gained Alfred's attention again. "You wanna see the King because you want a chance to have more power behind your ideal."

"Yeah," Alfred sighed, turning back to the blonde in front of him. "It's just too bad that we won't be able to talk to him."

"Yeah, that's too bad," Micheal mused.

***Fallen Stars***

Arthur was bored. He had been so used to the near constant fighting that their group had gotten into. And there was no one in this stupid town worth doing anything with. Francis was useless for as long as he was around Gilbert, the infuriating bastard that he was. Not only was he filled with enough energy to kill an average person and no way to use it, but it seemed as though he wished for the softer personality to gain control of the body they were both in. That only reminded Arthur of the painfully annoying fact that the little brat refused to give control to the obviously better choice.

"So you were that magic user I sensed," a voice sighed and Arthur groaned. Yet another thorn in his side, he had sensed him behind him for a while now. A magic user with the same ability as him, though it seemed that he did not have the dual personality problem. "Odd, I can't tell which personality is the original."

"Good," Arthur stated, turning around to the wizard. He had blonde hair clipped to the side and blue eyes that gazed at him boredly. Such an expression just succeeded in pissing off Arthur. He was dressed in clothing Arthur had never seen before, though it was obviously made of good quality and he even wore boots, though he was obviously not a thief. "What the hell do you even want? I was fine without you around."

"I'm looking for someone," the wizard stated. "It has nothing to do with you, though I am rather curious about your group. This meeting is just to ask questions. Not just about you, but about the others in your group. It seems as though you have quite a few interesting things in your travelling group."

"Well, I won't answer any questions you may have," Arthur said coldly. "You would have to find someone more eager to share than me."

"Then you leave me no choice," the wizard sighed before easily sliding his hand over. The switch was so sudden and Arthur gasped, staring at the wizard who did what he thought was impossible. He made the other personality give up control. "I trust you are more cooperative?"

"How did you do that?" Arthur muttered. He felt the anger in his other personality in the back of his head, but he couldn't take control.

"We may have the same amount of magic, though I seem to be better at the more technical side of it," the wizard said. "Are you more willing to answer my questions?"

"As long as you are willing to answer a few of my own," Arthur stated and the wizard nodded.

"There is a man with enough magic energy to seriously harm thousands of people if he is not careful," the wizard sighed. "Do you know anything about him or where that amount of magic came from?"

"Both of us have been trying to figure that out," Arthur muttered. "He's hardly aware of it and he seems to not have the ability to control it unless he's in danger. The magic has revived him more than once after death and has caused a severe reaction in him every time he sleeps. I sense the magic that comes out of him every night, but I can't make any sense of it. He's a mystery to everyone."

"What of that magic sword?" the wizard asked. "Considering I could sense it, it is very powerful."

"From what I can tell, it's old," Arthur said. "Whatever wizard crafted it, they did quite an amazing job. It protects the user and whoever he allows to touch it. Anyone who's not permitted to touch it could die, from what I gather."

The wizard nodded. "Ask your questions now, I'm in a hurry."

"Who are you?" Arthur asked. "Judging by your dress, you're important."

"I am close to King Mathias," the wizard sighed. "Any other questions?"

"What does the King look like?" Arthur asked with a small sigh. If someone close to the King was walking around, that could only mean that the King was as well and Arthur had a small suspicion that they had already seen him.

"Blonde," the wizard muttered. "blue eyes, doesn't have a care in the world."

"We've met someone like that that called himself Micheal," Arthur said.

"The fool doesn't even have the sense to come up with a good name," the wizard grumbled under his breath. "Do you know where he went?"

"I can take you to him and my own fool," Arthur sighed and turned around to begin walking towards where he had seen Alfred and "Micheal" go.

***Fallen Stars***

"Alfred can go fuck himself," Gilbert muttered darkly to himself.

"I noticed your little glare match," Antonio chuckled. "It's a good thing Matthew can't see, otherwise I can imagine he'd be pretty mad at the both of you."

"The only thing he's fucking worried about is that I was a thief," Gilbert grumbled. "He's gotta fucking realize that I'm not gonna hurt anyone on this team. I'm in it for a reason."

"Yes, Matthew," Francis smirked and Gilbert growled.

"Look, you just need to relax," Antonio suggested. "Let things run their course. I'm sure you did already confess to the boy and he apparently didn't mind it. Alfred will loosen up eventually, maybe once he finally figures out whatever he has with Arthur."

"Which one?" Gilbert smirked slightly. The only person that annoyed him more than Alfred was Arthur's second personality. The pressing questions he had about his dragon were concerning. That was the one secret he had that no one knew about, not even his brother. "That kid needs to figure out which personality he's gonna keep."

"That may take a while, considering their balance," Antonio shrugged. "Generally, wizard prostitutes have one personality because one is stronger than the other. We just have to wait until one wins the power struggle."

"If there was another guy in my head, I'd kick him out in two seconds," Gilbert smirked. "Then again, you'd kick my ass for taking that long, Toni."

"You could do it in one, my friend," Antonio laughed, patting Gilbert's back.

"Weird to think just yesterday, you killed me," Gilbert laughed with him. "How many times is it now, four?"

"I thought it was five," Francis laughed.

"All I know is, it's way too many times for comfort," Gilbert laughed. "Maybe next time, the fight'll turn out better."

"You never learn," Antonio chuckled. "You won't do any better next time."

"Then we just have to hope that there is no next time," Francis inputted happily. "Now, what should we do? I imagine we have quite some time until Alfred realizes that Micheal is really Mathias, so we should spend this time wisely!"

"What the hell is there to do in a town like this?" Gilbert asked.

"We could find a spare deck of cards," Antonio suggested. "You've always loved playing with cards, right, Gil?"

"If you could find some people willing to give up a deck, sure," Gilbert shrugged.

"Let's trade something," Francis shrugged, pulling out a small dagger. "Think they'd be willing to give a deck of cards for one of these?"

"Just find someone who won't stab you in response this time," Gilbert suggested, patting Francis' shoulder.

"That was one time!" Francis whined.

"Yeah, but you were in recovery for quite some time," Antonio laughed. "I remember taking nearly all of your jobs so no one figured out you couldn't move."

"Okay, fine," Francis sighed, looking around. "I am sure someone has a deck of cards…"

"Excuse me!" a blonde with brown eyes quickly ran up to them. Gilbert immediately noticed that he was dressed in incredibly fancy clothing, someone definitely from that castle. "I have a question for you three! Have you seen…wait, I don't know if I should tell you who I'm looking for, that might not be a good idea, since he's…Wait, I don't think I've ever seen you around before. You guys look a lot like thieves."

Gilbert glanced at Francis and Antonio, who shrugged simply.

"If you're looking for your King, I saw him go off with our team leader a little while ago, not too far that way," Gilbert pointed towards where he had seen them go. "Go fetch."

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about," the blonde rubbed the back of his head. "I heard that the King doesn't even leave the castle, let alone really talk to anyone outside it, unless they're really important. That leader of yours must be really important."

"You can drop the act," Gilbert said bluntly. "I can tell that you're faking."

"Well, I guess it can't be helped," the blonde scratched at his head. "Yeah, I'm looking for the King, as long as you thieves stay friendly, I don't mind getting your help. If you want, after you show me to him, I could give you that deck of cards you wanted."

"I don't mind this kid," Antonio laughed, walking ahead of them.

***Fallen Stars***

"So, what should we do, brother?" Lili asked Vash as they walked away from the castle. Vash had known that it was useless to go to a castle, but he said nothing, even as their group dissented into arguments. He was beginning to wonder if joining the group just because of their ideals was a good idea.

"Anything you want to do is fine," Vash stated simply. He looked around the town and didn't find anyone too untrustworthy, so he was fine allowing his gun to rest on his back.

"We always do what I want," Lili said. "What do you want to do?"

"There is not a lot to do," Vash sighed.

"Then we can go cloud watching!" Lili offered happily, walking quickly to a tree. Vash couldn't hide the small that crept onto his face at her happiness. She was so innocent, it was impossible to keep her saddened or scared for too long, despite what happened around her. Even with that spare bow slung over her shoulder along with the quiver, she still looked happy and incapable of hurting anyone.

"Whatever you want," Vash assented and followed her, sitting on the grass beside her as she looked into the sky. As usual, the sky was a murky blue, with dark gray clouds littering the sky. Lili spent her time picking out shapes such as rabbits and birds from the clouds with a smile on her face while Vash sat and watched. It was close to peaceful, for which he was grateful for.

"Don't you think that looks like a tree?" Lili asked excitedly, pointing at what appeared to be a blob.

"Yes," Vash said before noticing a person walk up to them. He had silver hair and violet eyes, which piqued Vash's interest. "Stay here," Vash advised before standing and walking up to the man that seemed intent on walking towards them. "What do you want?"

"We noticed you in front of the castle," the man said simply, stopping and crossing his arms over his chest. "And our King has gone missing."

"We didn't take your King," Vash stated.

"We know," the man nodded. "The others have gone to collect the other members of your team. I'm here to get you. The others will retrieve the King, we will meet at the castle."

"Why should I trust you?" Vash asked.

"You don't have to, I don't think you will," the man said. "Come with me. I am unarmed and you can get away if I am lying."

"Fine," Vash stated, looking back to Lili, who immediately stood up and walked over to them. The man silently turned around and walked towards the castle and Vash followed quietly. Lili stayed quiet, too, thankfully.

As they got close to the door, Vash noticed a large group of people, not only from their own team to people he did not know.

"You guys always ruin my fun, you know," the man that called himself "Micheal" muttered, arms crossed over his chest childishly.

"Shut up and get back inside," a blonde man sighed as they convened at the door. It opened on its own, revealing a very tall blonde with cold blue eyes, who seemed to glare at the large group in front of the door.

"Well, that counts for the King and all four of his buddies," Gilbert nodded happily.

"And you didn't think to give us this important information beforehand?" Alfred asked Gilbert.

"It never came up in conversation," Francis shrugged as the tall blonde nodded and stepped aside to let everyone through.

"Very impressive team," Vash sighed, walking in last, coming right after Lili as the tall blonde closed the door behind them.

*****Fallen Stars*****

**So, I'm really curious here, and I might even take your guys' answers into consideration. Which Arthur do you think should win Arthur's body in the end? Obviously, one has to win in the end, so who do you think it should be? Then, of course, there's the question of what's going on with Gilbert, but I'm sure you guys are already wondering about that.**

**And then there's the actual competition, regarding the plot twist, which has been given many hints recently! Have fun, kiddos!**

**And please review!**


	14. Reality

**What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.  
-Plutarch**

*****Fallen Stars*****

"So, how come you didn't just say you were a king?" Alfred asked, arms crossed over his chest as his group followed Mathias' group through the rather large hallway. Alfred had never seen something so grand in his life and he had to fight to not be distracted by any of it. He had to stay focused, he was supposed to be the heroic leader of the group.

"Well, Lukas noticed you guys first," Mathias said, motioning to the one with light blonde hair and cold blue eyes. "He sensed the shit ton of magic you're carrying around with you and so I figured you guys had to be important, so I came up with an awesome plan."

"Doesn't exactly work if we know what you look like," Gilbert snickered and Alfred rolled his eyes. He was still pissed about that. Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio knew that Micheal was Mathias and they didn't say anything, probably just thinking that this was all just some kind of joke. Alfred was thankful that Matthew was walking right beside him, far away from Gilbert.

"Well, you didn't say anything about it," Mathias laughed. "So, it all worked out nicely. Anyway, introduction time!" He twirled around happily in front of a rather large door and the rest of his group did the same. "I'm Mathias, obviously. My grouchy wizard is Lukas, the other grouchy one is Emil, the scary as hell one is Berwald, but he's actually a big softy, and the chipper one is Tino."

"Hello!" Tino smiled with a wave. "It's so great to meet new people!"

"I'm Alfred," Alfred said simply.

"And don't you dare try to introduce me," Arthur sighed. "My name is Arthur."

"The other one's Arthur, too," Gilbert snickered and Arthur sent him a glare. "I am the Awesome Gilbert, by the way."

"Francis."

"Antonio."

"Vash," Vash muttered. "And this is my sister, Lili."

"I'm Matthew," Matthew said quietly.

"Sweet," Mathias nodded. "So, I've heard about your little ideal from Al and I've decided I like it. I tried to become king to help people, but, you know, shit happens. So I'll go along with it. Hell, I'll even help you out." He turned back to the door and opened it flamboyantly, revealing an equally large room. It was filled to the brim with weapons, books, supplies…they even had multiple guns.

"Damn," Alfred muttered, stepping in to get a good look at the brimming shelves covering the walls and reaching all the way to the ceiling, which was far taller than anyone there, even Berwald.

"I take it you're not very familiar with big places?" Tino smiled.

"Last place I lived inside of was a mud shack," Alfred muttered.

"I think this puts the stock in our old thieves' guild to shame," Gilbert laughed, walking further in to take a good look at the shelves.

"You guys were thieves?" Mathias asked.

"Just the trio," Arthur sighed as Antonio and Francis joined him. "Hopefully, no more thieves will be joining us any time soon."

"Well, that's good to hear," Mathias laughed, patting his back. Arthur flinched slightly, but continued on his way as he pulled one of the books from its shelf. "You guys can take anything you want, as long as you can carry it."

"Seriously?" Alfred asked, looking around the room. Vash carefully stepped inside and kept a careful eye on Lili as she found a bow just her size and tested it out. Matthew had walked over to the Trio and was talking to them happily. Gilbert even handed him a knife.

"Of course, man!" Mathias smiled and Alfred laughed. This turned out even better than he expected it would. "So what's up with that sword? I don't even have anything like it."

"It's a family heirloom or something," Alfred shrugged, glancing at the sword. He often even forgot that it was there sometimes. It wasn't like he had to worry about anyone stealing it other than his brother, who would never do that. "It's saved my ass so many times."

"I wish I could get an enchanted sword," Mathias smirked. "Lukas isn't skilled enough or something to make one."

"I said it was because we don't have the proper materials, idiot," Lukas said coldly behind him. Alfred noticed that the four in Mathias' group were standing behind him obediently while Alfred's was in disorder, looking through everything that they could get their hands on.

"Anyway, you should check out some of the stuff, there might be something you like," Mathias shrugged. "Who knows, you might even find something to replace that sword."

"I doubt it," Alfred laughed and Mathias laughed with him. He stepped further into the room, but he glanced back to see Mathias' group whispering seriously among themselves. Alfred turned his attention to Arthur, who was animatedly reading through the book in his hands. If those guys were talking about something, it wasn't his business. "Whatcha got there, Artie?"

"This book is amazing!" Arthur smiled and Alfred couldn't help but smile, too. He never thought he'd see Arthur so happy before. He couldn't help but wonder what the other Arthur looked like when he was happy and not crazed and fighting. "It's filled with spells I had no idea even existed! They're all ancient, it seems."

"Awesome, dude," Alfred smiled, looking at the cover. It was bound in leather with words scattered over it and Alfred almost wished he could read.

"It says the author is A. Kirkland," Arthur muttered, glancing at the back of the book. The binding was a dark blue with a few, scattered symbols around it. "Whoever they are, they are ingenious. I never thought of using magic like this."

"A. Kirkland, huh?" Alfred muttered. "You know, I think I heard my dad talking about that name, maybe something about the sword."

"It's very possible that a wizard with the skill level to create spells such as these could craft a sword like that," Arthur mused, turning to a different page and becoming engrossed in his reading, muttering words under his breath that Alfred couldn't understand. It was actually pretty adorable, watching the man with the small smile on his face.

Alfred turned around, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He had to focus, he couldn't allow himself to be distracted, especially at a time like this. It was a major stroke of luck that they could take whatever they could carry, what they had might even save them in the future, who knew.

"We need something more than weapons," Vash advised behind him and Alfred nodded. "I can carry blankets and other basic supplies with me."

"Good, we'll need them," Alfred nodded. It was getting relatively close to the cold weeks, the only time the forest lost its leaves and its magic for just a two weeks. It was a time that thieves and Raiders waited for. They planned for months for the cold weeks. The only thing that gave anyone an advantage was the biting cold that would ensue. Another danger about the cold weeks was that, in the days before it, it would rain. "Think they'd be willing to spare a map?"

"If they were, I wouldn't trust it," Vash stated gruffly.

"Why?" Alfred asked, glancing over to the group. Mathias was smiling and laughing, talking with the trio. Lukas had begun to talk with Arthur as they looked at the book by A. Kirkland together.

"I just have a feeling," Vash said, pulling down a wool blanket. "I want to keep Lili safe and I'm not sure how safe she will be if we trust them too much." Vash looked at Lili while she talked to Berwald, who mainly just nodded in response to what she was talking about. His intimidating appearance did not seem to daunt her, who made Alfred smile. "Think about your brother and how much you want to keep him safe. Only trust people you know you can trust."

"The only people I don't trust so far are those thieves," Alfred grumbled, glancing to look at Gilbert and Matthew. As long as the thief didn't make a move to touch him, he would allow it, but the second that happened, he'd get over there quickly.

"Whatever happened to you in the past," Vash grunted as he attempted to push another blanket into his bag, "you have to get over it. I trust them enough to sleep around them and so do you. I would never be able to sleep around these people."

"So," Mathias said happily, slinging an arm around Alfred's shoulders, "do you think you guys are gonna be spending the night here?" Alfred thought for a moment about what Vash had said. He had to think about what was best for his team and, if there was even a chance that this was suspicious, they should just stick with what had been working with them so far. The forest.

"Nah, I think we're gonna be hitting the road here soon," Alfred smiled right back in return. Mathias' smile didn't falter. "I wanna get back to the forest before the rain starts. And we'll need to start getting more people on our side again."

"Smart man," Matthias patted his back. "You're always welcome to come back here during the cold weeks, though!"

"Sure thing," Alfred nodded and Vash grumbled something under his breath he couldn't hear, continuing to look through the supplies, glancing at the guns before turning to join with Lili. "I'm sure we'll see you around eventually!"

"I hope so," Mathias laughed.

* * *

"I'm very grateful they allowed me to keep this book," Arthur muttered, staring intently at the pages as they walked.

"If you keep staring at that book, you'll trip or something," Gilbert smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. He'd gotten a new sword, which he was proudly boasting on his new belt. Arthur had gotten a dagger, same with Matthew, though neither seemed very comfortable with it. Francis and Lili got new bows and arrows. Antonio got several knives and a sword, along with a few other items, which he was managing to hide expertly on his person. Vash had his bag bursting with supplies that they'd managed to scrape together along with some bullets that he begrudgingly took when offered to him. Everyone had gotten new boots, mainly thanks to Emil, who knew they would need them during the cold weeks. They also had warmer clothes, thankfully. The only extra thing Alfred had taken was a small charm that Lukas gave him, saying that it was cast for luck as well as to ward off enemies. He wasn't sure how well it would work, but it didn't hurt to take it. He was wearing it around his neck on a string, hiding it underneath his shirt.

"I know how to multitask," Arthur sighed. "As I am more focused than someone like you, I can manage to walk and read at the same time." He squinted at a page and looked even closer. "Odd, it says this spell was made for someone…"

"I don't know why we did not stay a little longer," Francis sighed. "We could have managed to stay there for a night, at least."

"And if the rain started and we were stuck there for a few days, until the cold weeks?" Alfred asked. "I would prefer to keep moving to get more people on our side." Another thing that bothered him slightly was that not even one person in Mathias' group offered to join them, saying that they had to stay with the king.

"I would prefer to be in a safe town during the cold weeks than in the forest," Francis grumbled.

"Well, our magnificent leader makes the decisions, not you," Gilbert snickered.

"Who was that spell made for?" Alfred asked Arthur, choosing to ignore the obnoxious Trio.

"Alfred," Arthur muttered, looking up at him. "It's a spell made to make a person be quiet, oddly enough. But there is a note on the side saying that it was meant for a man named Alfred. Evidently, it was meant to be the most effective on him."

"Well, I guess my name's pretty common," Alfred laughed slightly. Before he could say anything else, a thunderous boom sounded overhead and the entire group stopped, looking into the sky. It was covered in gray clouds that were steadily turning darker.

"It's going to rain," Vash stated.

"Is it too late to go back to the castle?" Francis muttered.

"Yeah," Alfred nodded. Those clouds looked about ready to burst. "Run to the forest!"

Everyone agreed and they began running as quickly as they could. Vash had picked up Lili to run faster and Alfred was holding onto Matthew's wrist to make sure he kept going in the right direction. The forest was just barely in their vision, it was so far away, but they had to make it. Towns people that were just outside of the town were rushing around in a panic, unsure of what to do and getting in their way. Lightning cracked overhead, lighting everything around them for a split second before disappearing.

And then a raindrop hit Alfred. He winced at the searing pain on his hand, where the drop had landed, but he continued to run. They were so close to the forest, which would give them complete cover from the rain, unlike any house he'd ever lived in.

"Shit," Gilbert cursed as a drop hit him. Arthur did the same, attempting to protect the book from the rain. More and more drops fell, the closer they got to the forest, each one leading to serious pain. Matthew whimpered as they ran and Alfred tried to take more drops than him, but that plan wasn't working very well. A drop hit his shoulder, melting away the cloth as it seared his skin.

Finally, they broke into the forest and stopped just after the border as the rain fell harder, bouncing off the grass harmlessly. They all panted and Alfred glanced over. They all had holes in their clothing where the rain had hit them and a few burn marks, but everyone appeared to be fine. They stayed quiet as the rain turned into a roar, it was falling so fast.

"Guess we're staying in the forest for a while, huh?" Antonio laughed slightly and Gilbert punched him in the shoulder, leaning against a tree.

"Damn, that rain hurts," Gilbert muttered.

"At least we made it before it got too bad," Matthew smiled slightly.

Suddenly, another person ran in, panting and yelling and cursing before he nearly fell on his face into the forest. Everyone in the group stopped and stared at the man, nearly his whole back bare from the rain hitting his shirt and covered in burns. Even his hair seemed to be missing in some places.

"Aiyah," the man muttered, barely holding himself up on his hands, his dark brown hair was pulled back, but some strands fell in front of his face. He was dressed very meagerly, but he still had boots covering his feet, though they even had a few holes in them.

The group glanced at each other before Antonio stepped forward. Alfred didn't even see him pull out his sword, but in a moment, the tip of it was on the man's neck, forcing him to look up with his dark, amber eyes.

"Who are you?" Antonio asked coldly and Alfred shivered slightly, despite the warm humidity given off by the rain.

"My name is Yao," the man panted, keeping still. He didn't seem very panicked but Antonio looked at him coldly and Yao began to look uncomfortable.

"Were you following us?" Antonio asked.

"Yes," Yao confirmed.

"Why?" Antonio pressed.

"Ivan sent me," Yao stated. "It's a wonder he left his manor to walk through the forest to find me, but he did. He told me where to find you and I've been searching for a while. When it started raining, I finally saw you and decided to follow you, but I was far behind you, so I got caught up in the storm, aru."

"Ivan sent you?" Alfred asked.

"Yes, so you can move your sword now," Yao stated, but Antonio didn't move. Yao sighed. "I am not here to hurt you, I'm here to help."

"Ivan did say he was going to get another person to join us," Arthur muttered, glancing at Alfred.

"How can we know we can trust you?" Alfred asked.

"I ran through the rain to get to you," Yao deadpanned. "If I wanted to kill you, I could have pulled out my knives or used my magic already, but I haven't."

"He's not lying," Antonio muttered, looking right at him with narrowed eyes.

"How can you tell?" Alfred asked.

"Toni's like a lie detector, I swear," Gilbert laughed. "If he's trying, he can tell when a person is lying by how they move when they talk."

"Think we can trust him?" Alfred asked.

"Yeah," Antonio sighed, putting the sword away. He held out his hand to the main with a smile on his face. "Welcome to our group!"

"Ivan warned me that this group was weird," Yao took the hand and stood up, looking down at himself with distaste. "Aiyah, I look terrible."

"I wish we had some spare clothes for you," Alfred sighed. They didn't have enough room and the blankets were more important than spare clothes at this point.

"Don't worry about it, aru," Yao sighed before closing his eyes and waving his hand over himself. His clothes seemed to meld together and the burns disappeared while his hair was returned to normal. "There, now I'm fine."

"It'll be nice to finally have another magic user around," Arthur smirked, looking down at his book to assess any damage done by the rain. "Thank goodness this book is alright."

"I can't help but wonder if the prostitute will treat it as kindly as you do," Gilbert laughed and Yao looked over at Arthur.

"Does that mean you are the kind of wizard that has-" Arthur cut Yao off.

"Two personalities, yes," Arthur finished for him.

"Don't worry," Yao smiled slightly. "That happened to me, too, but I was able to win against the other personality." Arthur winced at that, but nodded anyway. "I'm sure you will, too."

"I just hope I won't have to worry about that," Arthur muttered almost silently, but Alfred heard him and looked over at the wizard as he opened the book to examine if the pages had any damage. Alfred couldn't help but be curious about what he meant. If Alfred had two personalities in his head, he wouldn't waste any time kicking that other one out. He was starting to get the feeling that Arthur wasn't even trying to take his own head back.

*****Fallen Stars*****

**Fun fact about this world! People don't have last names, or most people don't. Last names were a thing in the past, but there's no need for them now! Hope that explains a little bit (or confuses you even more… Either way works for me!). Also, it only rains about…once a year I'd say. People don't keep track of dates that well in this world, they just know about what time the cold weeks start. Who knows, it might happen twice or even four times a year. In any case, it's dangerous.**

**And we have a new person! Writing Yao is a challenge for me, but so is Vash, so I'm sure I'll do okay with enough practice. And he was sent by Ivan, how interesting. I've dropped so many things in this chapter and I want to know what you guys think about them.**

**Also, thanks to my hundredth reviewer, Sora Resi, who happens to be rooting for the original Arthur. It seems that a lot of you guys are rooting for "normal Arthur", which I find interesting. I wonder what Pirate!England would think about those kinds of things… After all, you are condemning him to death by having the other one win.**

**Anywho, please review!**


	15. Success

**To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.  
-Mark Twain**

*****Fallen Stars*****

Matthew was startled awake by Gilbert, who suddenly gasped next to him and began to breathe heavily.

"Gil?" Matthew muttered as Gilbert's shaky breaths turned shallow.

"It's my fault," Gilbert muttered.

"Gilbert," Matthew sat upright. "What's your fault?"

"Everything, it's all my fucking fault," Gilbert's voice wavered, as if he was crying. Matthew wasn't sure what to do, but it turned how he didn't have to do anything as Gilbert pulled him close, his arms gripping him in a tight hug. "Why is it my fault?" Gilbert was shaking and Matthew felt something wet on his shoulder. Matthew sighed, hugging him back and trying to rub his hands up and down his back soothingly. "I don't understand."

"Is this one of those dreams again?" Matthew asked quietly. No one else was awake and he was just thankful that Gilbert didn't scream this time.

"That's all I fucking have when I sleep," Gilbert muttered darkly. "Every time. And I always forget what they're about. All I know is that it's my fault. And that I'm not supposed to die until a specific time."

Matthew didn't know what to say, so he just sat there as Gilbert clung to him. He muttered things under his breath Matthew was sure he wasn't aware of. Things like "where's the other one" and "Fate's such a bitch." Matthew felt horrible for him. Every night since they'd met him, he would have nightmares that reduced him to this. Sometimes, he would forget everything in a matter of seconds, but others, like this, could take minutes for him to forget.

"Damn," Gilbert muttered eventually and Matthew knew he forgot. He forgot everything he'd said, all he knew was that he had a nightmare. This was all like usual. "I probably look like such a wuss, huh?"

"It's okay to show weakness sometimes," Matthew sighed as Gilbert pushed back and cleared his throat lightly.

"Not where I come from, Birdie," Gilbert sighed. "In a thieves' guild, if you show weakness, you get killed and replaced the next day."

"You're not in a thieves' guild," Matthew said and Gilbert ruffled his hair.

"You should sleep," Gilbert advised quietly, placing a quick kiss on Matthew's forehead. "Don't worry, I'll just be a wake a little while longer."

"I know you never go back to sleep after you wake up from those nightmares," Matthew sighed, hoping he was looking at Gilbert in his eyes. "It's not healthy to avoid sleep for that long."

"I can take care of myself, don't worry," Gilbert said. "I'm awesome, remember?"

"But you're not invincible."

"Practically," Gilbert chuckled slightly, but Matthew could hear the pain in his voice. Gilbert honestly had no idea what was going on with him. What his constant nightmares were about, how he would come back to life after being killed, all of the black outs he would have. He tried not to let it show, but Matthew could tell. The closer he'd gotten to Gilbert, the more he noticed the little things, like how he would sometimes space out when he wasn't directly involved in a conversation, or how he muttered things he probably didn't remember. Francis and Antonio could tell, Matthew figured out. They would help him out as much as they could without making it obvious, for which Matthew was grateful for. Whatever was wrong with Gilbert, he needed as much help as he could get, whether or not he was aware of it.

"Go to sleep," Gilbert said, lightly pushing Matthew back down to a sleeping position. "I'll be right here in the morning. I promised you, I will never leave you alone so nothing bad will happen to me."

"Just…try to sleep again," Matthew sighed, closing his eyes. He was still very tired and felt himself drifting off to sleep slowly. The sound of the pounding rain bouncing off the trees of the enchanted forest filled his ears as he drifted.

He didn't hear Gilbert mutter something under his breath.

"Why is this my fault?"

***Fallen Stars***

"So, what are we trying to find?" Gilbert asked obnoxiously as they walked through the forest, Alfred trudging ahead loudly in the front. Even through the sound of the pouring rain, their group was rather loud and it made Matthew a little nervous. Luckily, no one was around to attack them or anything.

"Another town," Alfred said simply. "As soon as this rain stops, the cold weeks start and I don't want to be open in the forests."

"So you would prefer to be open in a town?" Arthur scoffed. "You really are an idiot. There's not safe place during the cold weeks, even with magic to protect you."

"You wouldn't know a lot about protection, though, would you, prostitute?" Gilbert laughed and Francis and Antonio did the same. Matthew nudged Gilbert slightly with his elbow with a frown and Gilbert whined slightly.

"I should tie you to a tree in the forest and find out how much it actually hates you," Arthur threatened darkly.

"You are too cruel," Francis chuckled. "At least allow him room to run, should the forest send an animal after him."

"And here I thought you were on my side!" Gilbert protested loudly.

"Is it always like this?" Yao asked Matthew quietly.

"No," Matthew smiled. "We're usually worse."

"Why did Ivan agree to join you?" Yao asked. "As far as I can tell, you are all really dysfunctional, aru."

"Can't you just not wait to be dysfunctional with us?" Gilbert cackled and Matthew elbowed him again. "Hey, don't hit the awesome me!"

"Yes, because I'm so sure it hurts you," Matthew rolled his eyes. His foot caught on something and he couldn't stop himself from falling, his hands barely catching him and he cursed under his breath.

"Mattie," Alfred was in front of him in a second, helping him sit upright and Matthew let out a sigh. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Matthew sighed, pushing him away. His knee hurt a little and he was sure his palms were scraped up, but he would be just fine.

"Need me to help you stand up?" Alfred offered.

"No, I'm fine," Matthew stated and stood up on his own, brushing off his pants. He hated being treated useless because he was blind. If he tripped, then he could stand on his own. It wasn't like being blind made him incapable of basic functions. The group was quiet for a while until they started walking again and the Trio stuck up a random conversation about the trees, among other things.

Someone placed a hand on his shoulder and Matthew only jumped minimally.

"I haven't…been conscious for a lot of this," Arthur muttered to him. "But I do notice your anger about-"

"It's fine," Matthew interjected.

"In this spell book, I have found quite a few spells I had no idea existed," Arthur continued with a small sigh. "For a while, I thought that it would be impossible to repair damage done before a person is born. This A. Kirkland seemed to know spells to fix that. If I were to…use one of these spells correctly, there is a possibility that I could make you see."

Matthew stopped walking. He thought frequently about what it would be like to see, but he had known that there was no possible way he could. He would never be able to experience the world like everyone around him. But what Arthur said gave him hope. A strange amount of hope, despite the fact that there was no certainty in what Arthur had said.

"Birdie?" Gilbert asked and the rest of the group stopped.

"Could you?" Matthew asked, looking in the direction of Arthur.

"There is no guarantee," Arthur muttered. "The spell is complicated and it would require a lot of power, but it is possible."

"What are you guys talking about?" Alfred asked.

"Arthur could…let me see," Matthew nearly whispered.

"Arthur, could you really?" Alfred asked.

"Wait, he's blind?" Yao asked and Gilbert laughed slightly.

"I think I could, with a spell I found in this book," Arthur stated. "There's no guarantee, Matthew. If this doesn't work…"

"That's fine," Matthew shook his head. "False hope is better than no hope."

"Well, it's not like there's anything else to do," Francis mused. "Wandering through the forest can only be so fun."

"Do it," Alfred said simply.

"Then give me a moment," Arthur sighed and Matthew noticed that he sounded…slightly impatient. Matthew heard him rustling the book and gentle hands behind him helped him sit down.

"At least there's a chance for you to see my awesome face," Gilbert laughed just behind him, holding onto his shoulders. "Promise me you won't freak out if this fails."

"I'm not an immature child," Matthew chuckled.

"Francis, stay close," Arthur said simply. "I'll need extra magic with this kind of a spell."

"A. Kirkland better know what he's doing," Alfred sighed.

"From what I can tell, he knew more about magic than anyone ever has," Arthur sighed. "There's no wizard alive that would know these spells. They're all self-created, but incredibly complex. This would take a lot of skill in order to even accomplish a spell such as this."

"Are you think you can?" Vash asked.

"How old are these spells?" Yao asked.

"I can, I'm sure," Arthur nodded. "And I have no clue. They're from a completely different time. There are words that aren't even legible to me. If there is another written language out there, it must have died a while ago. Everything else I've ever read had been in the same written language. It doesn't make sense that there would be another. Unless this person created their own, which I highly doubt."

"Alright, let's get this going," Gilbert sighed. "If you can do it, do it."

"Fine," Arthur muttered and two hands were placed, none-too-gently, on either side of Matthew's head, beside his eyes. "Close your eyes." Matthew obeyed, feeling a small fluttering of his stomach. He wasn't sure if it was from excitement or from nerves. He wasn't sure what he would do if it didn't work. Just the idea of being able to see filled him with so many ideas. He had no idea how it would feel, but he could dream.

Arthur was muttering something under his breath and Matthew felt…something odd. The feeling scattered across his eyes, but the blankness stayed, no matter what. Arthur pulled his hands away, stopping his spell.

"You're…resistant to magic?" Arthur asked. "I don't understand, I should have sensed something like that."

"I should have been able to sense your level of magic, but I didn't," Yao muttered.

"So, it's not going to work?" Matthew asked, trying to make sure his voice didn't waver as he opened his eyes to the usual darkness. The fluttering turned into what felt like a rock. He wasn't going to cry about it, though, he knew it was a long shot.

"Sorry, Birdie," Gilbert sighed. He moved his hand to stroke Matthew's hair, but something happened. There was a spark and Matthew flinched, shutting his eyes tightly, but something was wrong. It wasn't the usual darkness. There was no way to describe it. Matthew opened his eyes, but something completely different greeted him. It…hurt.

Matthew flinched and recoiled back, into Gilbert. He shut his eyes tightly, but there was still something weird. There was no way to explain it.

"Birdie?" Gilbert asked turning Matthew around, towards him.

"I don't understand," Matthew shook his head and tried again to open his eyes. He was greeted by pain once again and shut his eyes tightly. He opened them marginally and the weird thing was still there, no way to describe it. He slowly opened his eyes and it still hurt, but what was in front of him was the strangest thing.

***Fallen Stars***

Gilbert was speechless, like something was caught in his throat. Matthew's beautiful indigo eyes were staring right at him. There was no blind blankness to it, no, Matthew was focusing on him. He could _see._

"Matthew," Gilbert muttered and Matthew's stare turned to his lips before looking at his eyes. "You can see."

"What?" Matthew asked, not tearing his eyes away from him.

"Mattie?" Alfred asked and Matthew moved to look over to him, but Gilbert kept his head in place.

"No, just look at me," Gilbert muttered. Matthew had never been able to see before, seeing too much at once could be overwhelming. He couldn't help but smile at how weird telling Matthew to look was. "If you think this is weird, it only gets worse."

"So I'm…seeing?" Matthew asked. "I-I thought Arthur's spell didn't work."

"It didn't," Arthur stated. "Then Gilbert touched you."

"How could I be the cause?" Gilbert asked, making sure not to look away from Matthew, who was looking more interested by the second. Matthew carefully traced his hand across Gilbert's face, like he was testing out what he could feel versus what he could see.

"That is a wonderful question," Arthur muttered.

"You talk about colors a lot," Matthew said quietly, his hands stopping around Gilbert's eyes. "What color is that?"

"My eyes?" Gilbert laughed. "The ring around the center, the dark, black bit, is red. The rest of it is white."

"That's the same as your hair," Matthew smiled slightly, his hands running through Gilbert's hair.

"Yeah, it is," Gilbert nodded. He couldn't help but be curious about why it was him that gave Matthew his sight, just because he touched him. He felt that spark, but he just ignored it, like all the others he had felt. "Hey, Alfred, get over here. He should at least get a glimpse of himself."

"Right," Alfred quickly knelt next to him. For now, Gilbert could forget all about the glares and the way Alfred didn't trust him, for Matthew's sake. They couldn't glare at each other without him seeing anymore, so Gilbert was intent on at least making it look like peace.

Gilbert motioned for Matthew to look over to Alfred and he nodded before looking over quickly before becoming entranced again. It was an adorable look on him, he had to admit. He was so entranced that he could hardly look away. Gilbert stood up happily before looking over at Arthur, who was staring at the scene with interest.

"How could this be me?" Gilbert asked, walking up to the wizard and talking quietly.

"You have enough magic inside of you to kill thousands of people," Arthur stated. "I figure you should know eventually."

"Wouldn't I be able to feel that?" Gilbert asked. Anyone with magic knew they had it. If he had that much magic, he would have known.

"Yes," Arthur nodded. "This may have something to do with your chronic nightmares, I don't know. Whatever it is, it's not hurting you, so you have nothing to worry about. If you're not careful, however, there could be serious consequences."

"Like what?" Gilbert snapped.

"Matthew hasn't always been immune to magic," Arthur sighed. "That's why I didn't feel the resistance, because I thought there wouldn't be any. It might have started with what happened with Ivan. You might have subconsciously given him that kind of a gift to keep him safe."

"I don't need to keep him safe," Gilbert stated.

"Oh, please, it's obvious, don't try to hide it," Arthur rolled his eyes and Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "You may say that he can take care of himself, but it's obvious that you care enough to want to keep him safe."

"Any tips for keeping the magic in check?" Gilbert asked gruffly.

"For you or that kind of magic?" Arthur asked. "There's nothing anyone can do to stop anything from happening. With that much magic, anything you want will become a reality. You'll be akin to a God if you could find some way to control it. Perhaps it's residue from your dragon, his name was Gilbird, correct?"

"You're just so helpful today, aren't you?" Gilbert growled. "I bet you didn't even try to help Birdie."

"Oh, I did, don't get me wrong," Arthur smirked. "This spell book is quite amazing. I would love to see what someone with your magic abilities could do with these kinds of spells."

"Don't count on it," Gilbert stated, turning back to Matthew, who was laughing with his brother about something. He had to wonder why Arthur would do anything nice, especially this one.

***Fallen Stars***

"So, why'd you do it?" Alfred asked, sitting next to Arthur in front of the fire. Matthew had finally fallen asleep (in the arms of Gilbert, to Alfred's chagrin), which Alfred had figured would be impossible considering how much he wanted to see and all of the questions he had to ask. Nearly everyone had fallen asleep and Arthur had offered himself to keep watch.

"I didn't accomplish anything," Arthur stated, glaring at the fire.

"But you tried," Alfred pressed. "I want to know why."

"I can't do something nice every now and then?" Arthur asked passively.

"If it were the other one, I would say that it's natural," Alfred smiled slightly. "But you're not him, I don't know why you're pretending."

"Because then everyone would be bloody asking me why I chose to do it," Arthur sighed. "Is it really impossible for me to decide to do something remotely nice for another person?"

"It's just out of character, is all," Alfred laughed slightly. "I'm not against it. It shows you're not a heartless bastard after all. You're not very good at pretending to be the other personality, if you ask me."

"All I need to do is become a bleeding heart," Arthur rolled his eyes. "So sue me for trying to help somebody. I knew Matthew wouldn't accept my help if he knew I was me. That's the kind of reputation I have made out for myself."

"Are you proud of it?" Alfred asked.

"It's better than trying to save everyone with your heroic ways," Arthur muttered.

"You were the one that tried to be a hero with Mattie," Alfred smirked.

"Are you just going to be annoying?" Arthur groaned. "I would prefer to just be in silence rather than be forced to listen to your prattle."

"Figured I could keep you company," Alfred shrugged. "I'll keep watch with you, how about that?"

"I could think of plenty of better people to keep my company," Arthur rolled his eyes.

"That's not keeping company," Alfred laughed. "That's sex."

"And a very pleasant way to keep company," Arthur smirked. "I don't suppose you would give it a shot?"

"I'm gonna have to pass," Alfred laughed. "No offense."

"Yes, yes," Arthur said with a wave of his hand. "You have that thing for the other one. It's obvious if you look for it, which is all I can really do when I'm in the back of his head. Whenever he allows me to see his memories."

"How does that even work?" Alfred asked curiously, choosing to ignore his comment on the other Arthur. "The whole sharing memories thing."

"I'm not sure," Arthur shrugged. "I just decide before I disappear into the back of our head if I really want him to see what I've been doing. Generally, I don't let him if it's been violent."

"Sex or fighting?" Alfred smirked.

"Either one," Arthur laughed. "He doesn't like the memories so I keep them with me. He hates blood and my clients. He keeps some things secret from me. Sometimes it's revenge, he'll just have me wake up walking in a forest somewhere, going in some random direction."

"You know, you're not as evil or mean as you let on," Alfred smiled. "You're not that bad to talk to when you're not keeping up impressions. And you're kind of fond of me? Never saw that coming, I thought you said you hated me."

"Don't get too caught up with yourself," Arthur rolled his eyes. "My other personality may like you, but I do not. You're too…innocent. You prefer to stay positive, despite everything. I prefer to be realistic and be happy with that perspective. I don't need to change it or look at it differently to be happy with reality."

"Guess neither of us know a lot about each other," Alfred shrugged. "We've got a lot of time, though. If we'll both be staying up for a while together."

"My offer still stands to pass time," Arthur smirked and Alfred laughed.

***Fallen Stars***

**Oh, Arthur, you sneaky little bastard, I love you. And then of course Matthew. I've been waiting so patiently for the time to come for him to see. It'll still take a while for him to get used to seeing, naturally. I didn't stay in his perspective for a reason. I've never been blind and introduced to sight before, so I went as basic and confusing as possible. But things happened and I'm happy!**

**So, what do you guys think of this side of Pirate!England? He's still the same, but he's a little different at the same time. Maybe it's Alfred's fault.**

**Oh, and for another story that I may write up soon, I need ways to say the phrase "Ladies and Gentlemen" in different languages, like a lot, probably. If any of you know any other ways to say that phrase, please let me know in a review, it would be extremely awesome!**


	16. Courage

**All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.  
-Walt Disney**

*****Fallen Stars*****

Gilbert could barely contain his excitement as he stared at the sky through the trees, waiting for the perfect time. The rain was still pattering above them, but he knew exactly what he wanted to do. Just when he saw the beginnings of light, he turned to the boy sleeping against him, his face buried in Gilbert's chest.

"Birdie," Gilbert whispered in his ear and Matthew twitched slightly, muttering something unintelligible before snuggling closer to Gilbert. He smiled softly, thinking of how cute he really was. "Birdie, wake up."

"It's early," Matthew grumbled softly. "Let me sleep."

"But I have to show you something," Gilbert smirked and Matthew blearily opened his eyes at him, smiling softly and using a hand to trace his face. It was almost like he was relieved that he could still see, even if it was still dark around them. He remembered the way Matthew freaked out when it got dark, thinking he was going blind again.

"So what do you call that expression?" Matthew hummed softly.

"It's called a smirk," Gilbert laughed lightly. "It's what I do when I'm feeling cocky or proud of myself."

"So you have one a lot?" Matthew laughed and Gilbert did as well.

"Okay, so this thing is kinda time sensitive so we have to go now," Gilbert said, looking up at the sky, which was quickly brightening, as it always did in the rain.

"Alright, alright," Matthew got up slowly and yawned, his hair messed up. Gilbert laughed, fixing it for him before they both stood and Gilbert lead him to a tree that he'd found a little earlier. It would be perfect for climbing, especially for an unexperienced climber like Matthew.

"So, we're gonna climb this tree," Gilbert chimed and Matthew blinked at him before looking up.

"Okay, I've climbed trees before, but I was blind then, I don't know how to do it with sight," Matthew muttered.

"It's easier now, trust me," Gilbert lead him over to the tree. "Please? It's awesome and I know you'll love it!"

"I'm trusting you," Matthew sighed before holding onto one of the lower branches. Gilbert noticed that Matthew closed his eyes as he continued his way up and frowned slightly. Matthew could climb well enough on his own, so Gilbert followed just below him, helping him find branches every now and then. It seemed like he preferred it with closed eyes, though, which was very odd.

"Alright, now stop there," Gilbert grunted as he pulled himself over a thick branch and moved around to a different tree to get above Matthew.

"What are you doing?" Matthew asked, watching him as he climbed the flimsy branches of the nearby tree expertly. He'd been climbing trees for years, so he had no problem with it, even if it was scary. He'd only ever really fallen and hurt himself a few times.

"Climbing ahead of you for the surprise, don't worry," Gilbert smirked. The roar of the rain was getting louder, the further up they climbed. They were getting close, he knew. And not a moment too soon. More light was shining through the trees as they climbed. Gilbert managed to get above Matthew and continued to climb, motioning for Matthew to do the same.

Finally, Gilbert got to a point where, when he looked through a small break in the trees, he could see the golden red sunlight coming from just over the murky horizon. The rain around it made the air around them sparkle and the smell was amazing, the only good thing that came from the rain. It was a breathtaking sight, especially with the dark green forest stretching on for miles in the direction he was staring and just a hint of the blue sky could be seen in the distance.

"Perfect," Gilbert smirked and moved slightly to the side to allow Matthew to climb up beside him. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped at what he saw. Gilbert smirked, knowing he was right and that Matthew loved it. The amount of colors was something to be astonished by, especially from someone who was blind just the day before.

"Wow," Matthew muttered. "This is what a sunrise looks like?"

"I would've shown you a sunset, but your brother would have thrown a fit, at least he fell asleep earlier this morning, leaning on Arthur, by the way," Gilbert shrugged. "Not sure which one it was, but I can tell he has something for both of them, at least recently."

"And that's the rain?" Matthew smiled slightly. "I always thought it would look terrifying, but it just looks kind of peaceful. It smells nice up here, too."

"You always look on the bright side of things," Gilbert smirked, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against a flimsy branch.

"Be careful," Matthew sighed. "I'd hate for you to get hurt."

"Relax, I'm fine," Gilbert said with a passive wave of his hand. "It's not like I'm gonna die from the fall."

Matthew glanced at him before looking ahead again with a fascinated look. "Is this considered…beautiful?"

"That depends on the person," Gilbert shrugged, trying to answer as honestly as possible. He'd never really thought about beauty before.

"I hear about it a lot," Matthew muttered, looking at it closely as if that would help him. "I have no idea what it looks like in a person."

"I'll help you find a mirror and you can see what beautiful is," Gilbert smirked and Matthew's face turned slightly red.

"Very funny," Matthew stuttered slightly. "I'm trying to be serious, Gil. The term beautiful is just…confusing. Do you just base it off how someone looks?"

"Well, there's inner beauty," Gilbert shrugged. "You don't need eyes for that. I'm sure that's all you saw in me, my awesome inner beauty."

"So, is this beautiful?" Matthew asked.

"You'll have to figure out what you think is beautiful on your own," Gilbert laughed, shifting slightly and the branch creaked dangerously, but he figured he was fine. "Personally, I think it's gorgeous. But nothing compares to-"

_SNAP!_

The branch snapped below him and Gilbert was so surprised that he didn't grab onto anything. Matthew yelled for him, but his voice was quickly lost to the sounds of breaking branches as they hit Gilbert with full force. As he hit them, he felt things break, as some of those branches were hard. His ribs, his arms, his legs, his back, everything was hit, nothing was spared. It would be a miracle if he didn't get a concussion. He tried not to yell out as they hit him, but close to the ground, where the branches were the strongest, it hurt so bad, he had to scream. They didn't slow him down, though, so immediately as his head slammed into the ground, everything went black.

***Fallen Stars***

Alfred was shocked awake by a pained scream and he bolted upright, slightly surprised when Arthur sat up beside him, but his eyes were light, which lead him to believe that it was the original Arthur. There was a loud crash and Alfred looked over at the source to see Gilbert crippled on the ground, blood pouring out of his head.

"My God!" Arthur gasped, standing up to run over.

"What the fuck just happened?" Alfred snapped as others woke up around them and looked over in horror.

"Gilbert!" Matthew yelled and Alfred could only stare in shock as he saw his brother clumsily making his way down branches of a tall tree and stopped in his tracks to stare at him. "What…?"

"Aiyah, his skull is cracked," Yao muttered, kneeling next to Gilbert to examine him closer.

"I would step back for what's about to happen," Arthur advised the man, pulling him back by his shirt. "Even you will be able to sense that amount of magic."

"Alfred is that what…a dead person looks like?" Matthew asked carefully as he struggled to breathe properly.

"Yeah," Alfred muttered as Francis and Antonio bit their lips in anticipation. Sure enough, Gilbert twitched, his hair and eyes shimmering gold, and Yao's eyes widened in surprise. Gilbert gasped for breath, but didn't move and Matthew sighed slightly with relief, tears streaming down his face as he stumbled towards him. Alfred let him be, figuring that was his first time seeing Gilbert come back to life. It was Alfred's too, but he was prepared for it, he was told what happened, so he tried not to let it bother him.

What did bother him was the way Gilbert's mangled body looked and how his skull was practically repairing itself, his hair growing in the right places and everything. It nearly made him want to puke. Gilbert groaned as he came more into consciousness.

"Fuck," Gilbert muttered. "I feel like I've been hit by a bus."

"What's a bus?" Antonio asked curiously, kneeling beside his friend with Francis.

"I have no idea," Gilbert blinked, glancing at Matthew, who smiled slightly with teary eyes. "Sorry, that must have been rough for you."

Matthew shook his head, still crying.

"He's stopped healing," Arthur muttered, standing up.

"You mean he can't heal that?" Alfred asked him.

"Looks like I can't," Gilbert grimaced. "Fuck. Shit."

"Arthur, can you heal him?" Francis asked immediately and Yao huffed.

"I am a wizard, too!" Yao said indignantly.

"Yes, but he is far more powerful, it's very obvious," Antonio chuckled, looking to Arthur.

"I'm afraid I'm not good with healing magic," Arthur shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't help something as drastic as that."

"I saw on the roster that…_he_ was in a town nearby," Antonio muttered and Francis nodded.

"No fucking way," Gilbert snapped before groaning in pain and Matthew tried to comfort him, but there was nothing to do but stare at him, or risk hurting him.

"Think he would still be there?" Francis asked.

"I said no!" Gilbert protested.

"Who?" Alfred asked. As much as he hated Gilbert, he was a member of his team and he needed to make sure everyone was in their best shape at all times.

"Ludwig," Francis stated. "He is a master at healing magic, something he had to learn around this idiot. He was recently on a mission that would take many days to complete with the thieves' guild. If we tell him what has happened, he will have no problem joining our group."

"I told you no fucking way," Gilbert muttered.

"Having a healer with us would be helpful," Alfred mused.

"He's my brother, I'm not endangering his life to join our group," Gilbert muttered and Alfred stared at him. He matched his stare with a hard glare. Alfred knew how it felt to endanger his own brother's life every day and he hated it, but it had to be done. Gilbert had a chance to keep his brother safe, or as safe as he could be.

"Then what do we do with you?" Matthew asked.

Gilbert stayed quiet, looking away from him.

"We're getting Ludwig," Alfred stated. "Mattie, stay with Gilbert, the rest of us will go into the rain and find him. Arthur, you can do a spell that protects us, can't you?"

"Most likely," Arthur nodded and Alfred ignored Gilbert's protests.

"I am a wizard, too," Yao huffed.

"Let's move fast," Alfred nodded towards Antonio and Francis, who quickly stood up and walked in front of them.

"Traitors!" Gilbert snapped as Vash and Lili walked behind them. Alfred was hesitant to do this, but he had to think about their objective, too. They needed people and if this person would be willing to help them, then he should join them. And he was good with healing, which meant that Alfred wouldn't have to rely on his sword. He would have tried to use his enchanted sword on Gilbert, but he knew it couldn't help that much. Cuts and bruises, sure, but full on breaks? The sword wasn't a miracle.

***Fallen Stars***

Gilbert was fuming. Luckily, he was distracted by Matthew carefully, but painfully, moving his limbs to their correct positions and leaning him against a tree.

"I'm sorry," Matthew apologized as Gilbert twitched and groaned again in pain.

"I can't believe they brought him up," Gilbert grumbled and groaned in pain at his leg.

"You act like you'd prefer to stay broken," Matthew muttered, finally letting Gilbert be and sitting beside him.

"I wouldn't," Gilbert sighed. "But Ludwig shouldn't have to deal with all of this shit. He's doing fine on his own, I'm sure."

"You're his brother," Matthew frowned. "You should be close to him. Do you even have any other family?"

"They fucking dumped us the second they could," Gilbert scoffed. "I looked like a freak that they wanted to get rid of and when they had a second kid, they just got rid of us as soon as they could. If it weren't for Ludwig's magic, we both would have died by now."

"Maybe it was some of your own magic, too," Matthew offered softly.

"Yeah, well, either way, I'm here now and he shouldn't be," Gilbert muttered darkly. "I figured Alfred could get it, but he's still the same idiot as ever."

"I just want you to be back to normal," Matthew sighed. "If that's so bad, then so be it. I don't like seeing you hurt, or dead. You should have been more careful, then none of this would have happened."

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Gilbert sighed.

"I'm going to go find some more firewood," Matthew sighed, standing up. "You can handle being alone for a few minutes, I'm sure. No one will be going through the forest right now anyway."

"I'll be sure to kick the ass of any stranger that walks by," Gilbert smirked and Matthew rolled his eyes with a small grin, before walking into the forest.

"Yell for me if you need my help," Matthew said.

"You haven't fought with your sight yet," Gilbert stated as Matthew continued to walk. "It'll be pretty weird, you sure you can handle yourself alone?"

"I can handle myself better than you right now," Matthew smiled slightly back at him. "After you're all better, you can help me with fighting with my vision. It'll be weirder than climbing a tree."

Gilbert nodded to him and watched as Matthew disappeared into the thick trees. He wished that he could do something now, considering this was one of the few times Alfred allowed them to be together, alone, by his own choice. Whatever, Gilbert would have plenty of times later to hang out with his Birdie.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard someone walking near him, in the opposite direction Matthew went. They were too quiet to be Alfred's group, so that meant it was a stranger. He tensed, but that only caused him severe pain and he winced. He listened carefully and found that they were walking in a direction behind the tree he was against, so that meant they would walk right by without noticing him.

"This direction, are you sure?" a woman asked and Gilbert's jaw dropped. What were the odds of seeing her again after so long?

"Yes, Elizaveta," a man sighed and Gilbert had to fight not to laugh. Roderich, too, huh? He figured the two would get together eventually, considering the way they looked at each other after the job was done all those years ago. But for them to be travelling together, so close to the cold weeks? That was interesting. "Mathias said he was sure it was this direction."

Mathias? What the hell did he have to do with those two? How did they know each other?

"This job better pay big," Elizaveta sighed and sounded as if she was stretching, they continued to walk and Gilbert was sure he'd lose their conversation soon, so he tried to crane his neck to hear more.

"It's from a king," Roderich stated. "Now, I have to follow the trail Lukas left on…what was the name of their leader?"

"Alfred, I think," Elizaveta sighed and Gilbert narrowed his eyes. Lukas left a trail on them? Why?

"That's some ideal they have," Roderich sighed. "I wonder why Mathias is sending us after them for it."

"Considering his position, it only makes sense," Elizaveta sighed. "How easy do you think it'll be to enter the group? Should I bat my eyelashes at them and tell them a sob story?"

"You have been the better actor," Roderich said. "That can be up to you. As long as we keep an eye on the group, like Mathias wants us to."

Why would Mathias want to keep an eye on them? And why would he send people that Elizaveta and Roderich if he could send his own men? They wanted to get into the group, but discreetly, evidently, so that was a clue.

"I can't wait to see a goody-two-shoes group like when he betray them later," Elizaveta said happily and Gilbert's interest piqued. They were going to betray them. But…why? They were gone and Gilbert couldn't hear any more, but that didn't stop his mind from reeling. Did Mathias have something up his sleeve or something?

"So, am I right in thinking that you're just going to climb a tree after your all fixed up again?" Matthew asked as he came back, carrying a small bundle of twigs and logs. Gilbert decided not to tell him anything, in order to avoid panic. For now, he would lie low and wait until those two joined the group like he thought they were and he would decide what to do until then. But he would make sure to protect it with everything he had.

"Probably," Gilbert smirked and Matthew laughed slightly, putting the pile down before sitting in front of him. "You think you want to make a fire with that firewood, considering you worked so hard to get it?"

"I just wanted to do it," Matthew laughed slightly. "Alfred would never let me when I was blind."

"Isn't it just incredibly fun?" Gilbert laughed and Matthew leaned back onto his palms. "You doing okay with everything?"

"I'm…incredible, Gilbert," Matthew smiled. "I have no idea how it happened and I don't really care, in all honesty, but it's amazing. Seeing is entirely different from what I thought it would be."

"You're fucking adorable when you talk like that," Gilbert laughed and Matthew blushed while glaring slightly at him.

"Only you can manage to give a compliment like that while cursing like that," Matthew chuckled, shaking his head. "How is it that you can sound romantic like that?"

"It's a skill," Gilbert shrugged, but received a massive amount of pain and groaned slightly.

"Just…sit back," Matthew muttered, looking at him nervously. "I don't want you to hurt yourself any worse."

"Nah, Ludwig will fix me right up, no problem," Gilbert smirked, knowing it was true. Ludwig had helped him way too many times to count. He got hurt a lot, as Antonio and Francis were keen to point out, and Ludwig had usually always been there to get him back into top shape. He had been at least a little careful without him around, but he figured it was only a matter of time until he hurt himself badly. He wasn't clumsy, he just didn't control himself well.

"So, is he your younger or older brother?" Matthew asked curiously.

"Younger," Gilbert smirked. "Little Luddie's been trying to keep up with me for ages."

*****Fallen Stars*****

**God, the ending of this chapter just didn't want to happen and I'm so happy that I finally got it done. Ludwig will be around next chapter, but Elizaveta and Roderich finally made a speaking appearance. You guys just thought they were an anecdotal story, but they're actual characters! Regarding actual plot! So exciting, mans!**

**Also, you guys have helped me a lot with the "ladies and gentlemen" thing and I have to thank you all so much! I didn't know people that knew that many languages were following this story. I have to ask for your language expertise again, though. I need to know "thank you" and "Jones brothers" in different languages, preferably the ones I already have the previous phrase for.**

**Anyway, please review for the actual story as well! It's awesome!**


	17. Weakness

**My family is my strength and my weakness.  
-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan**

*****Fallen Stars*****

"So, what are we looking for?" Alfred asked Antonio and Francis as they walked towards the town. Arthur and Yao were working together to create a rain barrier for them, but the town ahead looked deserted. It wasn't temporary, which meant that everyone was just taking shelter and hoping that the rain wouldn't hurt them too badly.

"Very tall and blonde," Antonio smiled. "You and Matthew met him before, he's the one you stole boots from."

"Everything just goes full circle, doesn't it?" Alfred sighed. There was a person walking around and they had an obvious barrier over them as they ducked into a random hut.

"Why did all of us have to go to pick up one person?" Vash asked simply. "Do you really think your brother and Gilbert will be safe alone?"

"Mattie's fine," Alfred said. "He can handle himself, even when he was blind." He had his doubts about Gilbert, but there was nothing that he could do in his current condition. And he figured…after seeing the way Matthew reacted to watching Gilbert die…that they could have some time alone. That didn't mean, in any way, that Alfred was beginning to like Gilbert, but they deserved a break. Before another brother came into the picture.

"We should just get back into the forest soon," Arthur sighed.

"Because that will save us during the cold weeks," Yao muttered under his breath.

"Let's just look for the guy," Alfred said. "Why was he here, right before the rain?"

"He was hired to keep everyone alive during the rain," Francis explained. "It wasn't a big payoff, but he's a healer, he likes to help people, no matter what it may cost him."

"So I'm guessing the man that ran into that house a moment ago was most likely him," Arthur sighed. "Again, I would prefer to spend less time talking. The barrier may work for now, but I don't want to test for how long."

"The rain is kind of pretty," Lili noted, smiling as she looked at it.

"Don't you dare try to touch it," Vash stated and Lili smiled with a nod.

"I'll go in alone," Alfred sighed as they approached the small house. It was holding back the rain for now, but he was sure it wouldn't last too long, but he couldn't allow himself to worry about that now. If he did, he would stop at every town and build them all brick houses. "I'm sure no one wants a group this big to flood into a house this small."

"Hurry, then," Francis nodded. "I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I want to get back into the forest as soon as possible."

Alfred nodded and pulled open the weak door and the three people inside the room immediately turned to look at him. Alfred smiled sheepishly as he closed the door. One of the men in the room had burns on his hands while the woman stood beside him. The other man, the tall blonde that Alfred barely remembered from years ago, was standing almost in front of the first man and studied him quickly, just like any other thief Alfred had met.

"You're Ludwig, right?" Alfred asked and the man nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing. "I've been travelling with Gilbert and he's hurt. From what I'm told, you're the only one that can help him."

"If I see him, I'm going to have to kill him," the man said in a deep voice before turning back to the man. He ran his hand over the man's burned ones and they were fixed almost instantly. Alfred had never seen healing magic that impressive before and it was astounding how quickly it happened.

"How many times are you willing to?" Alfred asked. "Antonio only had to try once."

"Antonio actually tried to kill him?" Ludwig asked. "Before joining with you?"

"I know his little secret," Alfred said. "I saw it happen just a few minutes ago. He's back but he's not healing. He'll need your help to move again."

"I'm busy right now," Ludwig said.

"People can get over rain burns," Alfred said.

"And Gilbert heals quickly," Ludwig replied, turning around towards him finally. Alfred disliked how tall he was, undermining his sense of authority, but he kept going.

"Not this time," Alfred said. "I don't know how to explain it, but he's not healing. We need to keep moving before the cold weeks start and he can't do it like he is now."

"What the hell did that idiot do this time?" Ludwig growled.

"Fell down a tree," Alfred shrugged. "Shit happens."

"On the way, tell me about what made Gilbert join you," Ludwig said and turned to apologize to the people in the house, who looked rather pissed off, but didn't say anything. Alfred turned back around and opened the door and Ludwig sighed behind him once he saw the amount of people waiting there. "How many more people do you have?"

"Don't worry, we have the recently blind guy watching over Gilbert," Alfred laughed slightly.

***Fallen Stars***

"I'm sure they'll be back soon," Matthew shifted slightly out of boredom. He looked up, between the trees to watch them sway in the wind. It was still humid from the rain, but he was beginning to feel the chills that came with the beginning of the cold season. He'd never been around to see it, but he knew it meant that the leaves on the trees would fall, which he would be pretty depressed about. The trees were so full of color and so amazing.

"What do you think he'll do when he sees me?" Gilbert smirked.

"Your brother?" Matthew turned his attention back to Gilbert. "Well, if he's thinking like a thief, he'll probably try to kill you like Antonio. But if he's thinking like a brother, he'll help you."

"Ludwig's nothing like the hero Alfred wants to be," Gilbert laughed slightly, but winced at some pain and Matthew had to fight to not comfort him. If he touched him, he would just cause him more pain.

"He's still your brother," Matthew said.

"Not everyone acts like a perfect family, Birdie," gilbert stated. "Hate to be a downer, but it's true. Guarantee Arthur's family traded him for something, that's what happens to a lot of prostitutes."

"We'll just have to find out, then, won't we?" Matthew asked. He could faintly hear them coming through the forest. There was a new voice, he noticed as they got closer and Gilbert finally heard them, too, his red eyes faintly glancing over curiously.

"Gilbert, you idiot," the unfamiliar, deep voice stated and Matthew looked over, seeing the man standing in front of the rest of them. "What the hell did you do?"

"Died by falling from a tree," Gilbert said simply. "Are we gonna play doctor now or what?"

"What the hell is a doctor?" the man asked.

Gilbert paused for a moment before shaking his head slightly. "No idea."

"Is making up words another thing with your head?" Antonio asked curiously and the man sighed, stepping forward. Matthew stood and got out of his way, stepping beside Alfred.

"Maybe," Gilbert muttered. Ludwig moved his hand over Gilbert's arm and he flinched in pain. "Fuck."

"You wouldn't be in any pain if you weren't so stupid," Ludwig sighed, moving to Gilbert's other arm. "When was the last time you had a seizure?"

"Few days," Gilbert said. "Dream's still there." Matthew couldn't help but wonder how involved Ludwig was with Gilbert's…problems. Francis knew what to do when Gilbert would seize so he had to be curious as to how much Ludwig knew about what was going on with Gilbert. It had been a very long time since he'd seized but Matthew was still nervous that it would happen again.

"Anything happen while I was gone?" Alfred asked.

"I got wood," Matthew shrugged and Alfred nodded. "Very interesting."

"So, you and Gilbert have a…" Alfred sighed as the rest of the group milled around in a small circle, never leaving each other's sights. Arthur leaned against a tree while Vash and Lili sat on the other end of their imaginary circle. Antonio and Francis stayed next to Gilbert and Ludwig, Yao stood awkwardly, having nothing to do. Leaving the brothers as alone as they could be. "Thing."

"Maybe," Matthew shrugged. "I'm not sure how it'll work out eventually, though."

"But you like him?" Alfred asked. It was obvious to Matthew that he was trying to be supportive, but he was being awkward about it, so he couldn't help but giggle slightly.

"It's nothing to worry about," Matthew laughed slightly. "I think I do and he does, too. We both know this world sucks and we're tough. If something bad happens, we'll get over it."

"And it doesn't bother you that he was a…thief?" Alfred asked.

"It does a little bit," Matthew admitted. "But I need to keep moving past that one day. I figured that out when I nearly had a panic attack with Ivan. We're travelling with four thieves now, we should both get over it, shouldn't we?"

"It's not because they're thieves that I don't trust them," Alfred sighed. "It's because I don't know them."

"And the fact that they're thieves is giving you an excuse to glare at them," Matthew rolled his eyes. "I've seen you glare at him and I've seen him glare back. It shouldn't be a competition."

"I just-"

"I'm fine," Matthew sighed. "You know I've pinned him before, and that was when I was blind. I could do it again if I really need to."

"Speaking of that," Alfred cleared his throat, changing the subject. "You're not used to fighting with your sight. We should practice that before the cold weeks start."

"Right," Matthew smiled, patting Alfred's shoulder. "I'll be sure to get on that as soon as I can."

"Hey, Alfred," Yao said, walking up to them while Matthew looked over to Gilbert and Ludwig. Gilbert was fine now, leaning forward and laughing, making fun of Ludwig, who definitely did not look like the younger brother. "What is that around your neck?"

"Oh, it's just some charm Lukas gave me while we were talking to King Mathias," Alfred shrugged. "He said it was a protection charm."

"Have you had Arthur look at it?" Yao asked and Matthew looked back to them. Alfred glanced over at Arthur and he smiled slightly. He had a thing for Arthur, but that was a little more complicated, because of what was going on with the other Arthur.

"I don't see a reason to," Alfred shrugged. "It was a nice gesture. Doing that is like saying I don't trust them."

"Any king is someone you can't trust," Yao advised. "That's what I've learned, at least."

"Well, have you met Mathias?" Alfred crossed his arms over his chest. Matthew had to admit, the guy was a little too nice to them when we went into their castle. He didn't take a lot of stuff just because of the fact that it was a little fishy. "I trust him, but apparently no one else does."

"A proper leader should trust his team," Matthew muttered. "I would at least consider it."

"The charm is just for protection," Alfred sighed. "There's nothing to worry about. They're allies, they wouldn't hurt us."

"Francis," Arthur sighed, walking past them with a heavy sigh. Matthew could tell by the tone of his voice that he was the…darker one. Francis' interest piqued slightly as he glanced over. "I'm bored. We obviously won't be leaving any time soon."

"So you want me to keep you company?" Francis asked with a smirk.

"If you would," Arthur smirked.

"Try not to get a disease," Gilbert laughed.

"I have a higher chance of getting one from him," Arthur rolled his eyes before roughly dragging Francis further into the forest.

"There is a point there," Gilbert nodded thoughtfully while Antonio laughed.

"What, does he sleep around a lot, too?" Matthew giggled.

"Nearly every mission," Antonio laughed. "Generally, it's anything that breathes, he doesn't care."

"Did he fuck that horse once?" Gilbert laughed. "God, I got him so drunk! That was hilarious!"

"I'm sure Arthur would be so happy to hear about that," Yao sighed. "Does he often do that?"

"Surprisingly, it's the first time he's had sex this whole time," Alfred grumbled and Matthew tried not to laugh. It was cute how he was protective over Arthur, even as a prostitute. "Figured it was about time he cracked."

"So this is the group you have decided to stay with?" Ludwig asked Gilbert and he laughed.

"Hell yeah," Gilbert nodded proudly. "You'll get used to the freak show eventually, don't worry. Just wait 'till you see us all fighting."

"I'm going for a walk," Alfred sighed and turned to walk through the forest, in the exact opposite direction that Arthur and Francis had gone.

Matthew glanced towards him and let out a sigh before sitting beside Gilbert to join his conversation. Despite Ludwig's demeanor, he stayed around just for the conversation, though he didn't laugh and just rolled his eyes. He was a rather nice big brother.

***Fallen Stars***

_You can't know. You can't know. You can't know._

The voices chanted in his head. It was different this time, but he wasn't sure how. Something…changed, but he still couldn't control or understand anything. He was watching an explosion, most likely the most beautiful and horrific thing he had ever seen in his life.

_Not yet._

Everything moved too fast for him to understand. Rocks hitting each other, more explosions, massive amounts of heat. It turned to water and he stared at the air in wonder. It didn't make any sense. How could this happen? It was so unlikely.

_They're all dead_.

He gaped in wonder, watching as animals turned to humans, which oddly looked just like him, it didn't even make any sense! How could they look like him? He looked over to his friend, whose face was too blurred for him to get a glimpse at, but he knew exactly who he was. They were the last ones left.

_Why didn't you fight? Why didn't you die with them?_

They killed him. And his partner. Those things that looked like him, they hated him because of his power and they killed him. Viscously. But he knew he wouldn't really die. He watched as a rock plummeted into the Earth.

_Coward._

He watched them from afar, as they played cards or painted or waged war. He just sat and watched with nothing to do but laugh with his friend. The last ones left. They had nothing to do but watch this place burn as they ruined it. That was all the humans did, killed what they touched.

_This is your fault._

He was killed over and over again as the humans continued to hate him, even when everything looked their best. Every time he died, he watched chaos explode beautifully like that first time. It hurt every time, to the point where he would scream and scream but no one came to his rescue. The other one screaming couldn't help him and they were just beside each other in pain while the world shattered around them.

_This world isn't worth it. You know that._

The pain was unbearable. He couldn't hear his own screaming, just everyone else's. His heart exploded, his stomach, his brain, everything, no matter what. It all just exploded as he died. There was no stopping it, the humans caused all of this.

_Why did you stay? You should leave._

Nothing was keeping him or his only friend, the only one that never tried to kill him, even when they were killing each other. The blackness came and went, only interrupted by the beauty of the chaos in front of him. The ugly, ugly beauty of everything around him.

_Next time you wake up._

***Fallen Stars***

Gilbert screamed this time. The second he opened his eyes, he was in so much pain that he couldn't bear it. Everything hurt, it felt like he was exploding. His head throbbed as he forgot any memory of that dream, just remembering that it happened. He screamed his throat raw, finding that it was impossible for him to stop, even to breath. He felt himself beginning to suffocate as his voice started to fail, but the pain didn't even go away.

"Gilbert! Listen to me!" Ludwig yelled, shaking his shoulders, but that caused more pain and Gilbert tried to scream, despite his voice leaving him. He still couldn't breathe, he was too busy screaming. "You have to breathe! Nothing is wrong with you! You're not in pain! Breathe!"

Gilbert shook his head furiously. The pain was too much to bear, he felt like just dying would be better, but he knew he would just come right back to the pain.

"Gilbert!" the one scream made everything stop. Despite everything being completely black, Gilbert knew who owned the voice that just screamed at him. It was like the voice of an angel and the pain immediately stopped, all but the pain in his throat. He sucked in breaths almost too fast for him to get them. He slowly got a vision of the dark night around him. People stood around him.

"That burst of magic…" Arthur muttered as Gilbert tried to collect himself, curling on his side. He couldn't speak, he couldn't even whisper probably. He screamed all of his voice out of him.

"Gilbert, what happened?" Matthew asked as his voice hitched, holding onto Gilbert's shoulder. Gilbert sent him a weak smile while he nearly got dizzy with all the oxygen he was getting at once.

"He lost his voice with the screaming," Ludwig sighed and Matthew was pushed away. Gilbert rolled his eyes, frowning slightly, but he looked at his brother anyway. "Was it from the nightmare?" Gilbert shook his head. He never got that much pain from a nightmare before. "Where was the pain?" Gilbert rolled his eyes before gesturing to his whole body.

"I even felt that magic burst," Alfred stated. "Was that really Gilbert?"

"Just imagine what else he could do," Arthur sighed and Gilbert tried to mutter something under his breath, but nothing came out. He wondered how long he would be like that, unable to talk.

"What could have caused that?" Matthew asked quietly.

"Anything," Ludwig shook his head. "I don't understand any of what is happening to him. If I could just know what was in his dreams, that would get us somewhere, but I can't get anywhere like this." Gilbert looked at his little brother apologetically. He hated when his brother sounded like that, acting like it was his fault that he couldn't figure it out and causing Gilbert to have these episodes. At least, this time, it wasn't a seizure, this time he remembered what happened. Maybe that was a good sign.

"At any rate, we should head back to sleep," Alfred stated. "Gilbert, if you don't want to sleep, you can stay up with Yao to keep watch."

Gilbert nodded, sending him a quick glare before sitting upright. He rubbed at his raw throat and flinched slightly, but that was the only pain he was in. He couldn't help but wonder what could have possibly caused all of that pain to just come and disappear as quickly as it did.

"Try not to talk a lot to get your voice back," Matthew smiled sweetly at him, kneeling down beside him before giving him a peck on the lips. Gilbert smiled, watching as Matthew fell asleep, facing their dead fire pit.

"Try not to scream anymore tonight," Alfred muttered angrily.

Gilbert stuck his tongue out at him, though he knew it was childish. He couldn't exactly make a sarcastic comment towards him at that point, but he was sure he'd have a few stored up by the time he could speak properly.

*****Fallen Stars*****

**Goodness, that dream has so many spoilers hiding inside it that it's just bursting! I hope you all took notes! Anyway, Ludwig's here, time to celebrate! Things will be happening soon, and I'm excited! Next chapter, things get a little more interesting!**

**Oh, and Masterliful, who reviewed last time, some of what you said is correct (not telling what) and some was extremely interesting but not true (still not telling you what). People are making impressive guesses on the plot twist, but no one's been right on it yet, so I guess I'll just have to drop more clues soon. (And trust me, a few big ones are coming up. And a few bigger ones have already been dropped if you look close enough.)**

**Oh, and a special thank you to people giving me translations, it's better than going to google translate. That story should be out soon, as I'll update it with this one, most likely. Summer is coming soon so I'll have time to do it coming up soon!**

**Please review! It's nice!**


	18. Burden

**I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.  
-Martin Luther King, Jr.**

*****Fallen Stars*****

"So does your throat feel even a little better?" Matthew asked delicately, slipping away from Alfred simply to walk beside Gilbert and the rest of the Trio, along with Ludwig, who was hovering around his brother, as if waiting for something bad to happen soon.

Alfred fought not to glare at the thief with his brother. He'd told himself that he would be okay with it. Sure, he could be uneasy around this many thieves, and he had very good reason to, but he would relax for now. If any of them tried anything fishy, then he would attack them on the spot. It never hurt to be cautious.

"At least it stopped raining," Antonio chatted happily and Alfred sighed. That was the news of the day that everyone talked about. The second Alfred woke up, he realized the absence of the roar of the rain and he knew that was good news. But it was also bad. Everyone in the group had to have realized it. Even Gilbert, who was staying quiet thanks to his screams the night before, and Lili who looked at the changing leaves and commented on how pretty they looked. The cold weeks would start soon. No one said a word about it, out of fear probably, but it would be coming soon. Now that the rain had stopped, it could start any day.

"Finally, aru," Yao gave a sigh of relief. He was walking the furthest ahead of the group and Alfred's attention piqued at the idea of good news. "It's a town." Alfred looked ahead and sighed in relief as well. It was calm, or as calm as a town could be. There were no thieves by the look of it so that meant it would be safe, at least for a short time. They didn't stay too long in one place anyway.

"Hey, Al," Matthew muttered, looking at Alfred but staying by the Trio. Alfred looked over to him with a nod as they left the barrier of the forest and walked towards the town. "What are we going to do for the…um…"

"Cold weeks?" Alfred finished for him and Matthew nodded. "I'm working on it."

"Think quickly," Arthur sighed. "Once the leaves finish changing, all of the magic in the forest is gone so it won't protect us from anything."

"And once they fall, all of the cover they gave you is gone," Vash stated gruffly.

"I'm working on it," Alfred repeated himself. He didn't need a constant reminder over how much he should be trying to figure out how to keep their entire group safe. Sure, there was safety in numbers, but a group that big was hard to keep protected.

"For now, we should relax," Francis offered happily. "I'm sure someone in this town has a deck of cards!"

"I have never played with cards," Matthew smiled innocently and Gilbert cracked a wicked smile, wrapping an arm around Matthew's shoulders and ruffling his hair happily.

"Don't worry, we'll help you out, it's easy," Antonio explained.

"Gilbert is the best out of all of us, though," Francis sighed theatrically and Matthew giggled. "Which is rather odd, though, despite his stupidity."

Gilbert pouted, glaring at Francis and Alfred chuckled slightly, following them. He was going to keep an eye on his brother, no matter what, especially in a place and time like this. Who knew what would come out of nowhere.

"Never thought there was a chance in hell I'd see you again," an extremely familiar voice laughed behind them and Alfred froze. Matthew did as well and the group did the same, looking at the brothers in confusion. Matthew covered his mouth with his hands and Alfred could already see tears coming to his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Alfred growled, turning to look at the man. He stood there proudly, clear as day. That was the man that destroyed Alfred's village, orchestrated the killing of his family, did the unspeakable to Matthew.

"Working," the man smirked and Matthew nearly let out a sob. Gilbert caught on quickly and stood in front of the smaller male, looking cautiously at the man with hard eyes. "Good to see the fuck puppet's still alive."

"You have no right to call him that!" Alfred yelled at him and attempted to move forward, but Arthur held him back, shaking his head. Alfred just glared at him. Matthew stifled a sob, clamping his hands over his ears and shutting his eyes tightly as tears poured from them.

"No one has any rights," the man laughed. "You take them, they aren't given to you."

Alfred glared at him. He had nothing to say to a man like him, who didn't even deserve to breathe or walk. He was a person that destroyed Alfred's life, demolished Matthew's, terminated their family's.

"It's been a while, Gil," the man nodded to Gilbert, who just stared coldly at the man in response. "I heard you left the guild with the others. Since I'm in a good mood after seeing a good memory from the past, I won't kill you this time."

"Go fuck yourself," Alfred spat at the man, who looked at him with an amused smirk.

"You know, I could always pleasure ya like I did your fellow fuck toy," the man stepped closer to him and Alfred lost it.

In a second, Alfred pulled out his sword and pinned the man to the ground, pushing his sword against the man's neck. The man screamed as Alfred pushed as hard as he could, screaming profanities and curses at the top of his lungs. Alfred was so lost in his hatred that he didn't even see when the burns cut into the skin, when the man started shaking.

Suddenly, hands held onto Alfred's arms to pull him back and he fought back violently against them.

"Let go of me!" Alfred screamed, trying to continue to torture the man that dared to try to ruin his life again. "Fuck you! He deserves this!"

"Alfred!" a voice yelled and it shocked Alfred enough for him to hear the rest of what the person had to say. "He's already dead."

Alfred froze and more hands pulled him back and he went them, dropping his sword. Alfred stared in horror at the body in front of him, the neck so mangled and burned that it wasn't even recognizable. The man's face was contorted into a permanent look of terror and pain and Alfred felt tears burn his eyes as he screamed in horror, falling back, onto the ground and tried to get away from what he had done.

"What have I done?" Alfred choked out. He had just killed someone. He never wanted to kill anyone, no on deserved to die, not even this man, who deserved to rot in hell for the rest of his life. "I'm no better than him."

"It's alright," Arthur muttered.

"No! It's not!" Alfred snapped at him.

"He's dead, there's nothing else you can do," Antonio sighed. "You have to move on."

"But I killed him," Alfred muttered, shaking his head furiously. "I ended his life myself."

"Calm down," Francis sighed and Alfred tried to. He looked around and found that Vash and Lili were missing, which he should have known. Vash would never allow Lili to see or hear something as horrible as that. Alfred's sword laid harmlessly on the ground, void of any blood or damage as it glinted in the sunlight. Matthew was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Matthew?" Alfred asked, trying to breathe deeply in an attempt to calm himself down.

"He ran off," Arthur explained. "Don't worry, Gilbert went with him."

Alfred nodded, at this point that would be the best. He shivered at the sight of the corpse while the rest of the world went on as if nothing was wrong. People still walked around normally, the leaves continued to slowly change their colors. But Alfred's mind was a mess that was running at a pace he couldn't keep up with. He'd just killed someone and all he could do was sit and stare at the body.

"Is everything alright?" a woman asked calmly and Alfred looked back at her. She looked sweet and a man stood behind her, looking on at them. "You look horrible, is there anything I can do to help?" she asked sweetly, kneeling down beside them.

"Who are you?" Alfred asked while Francis and Antonio whispered to themselves.

***Fallen Stars***

Matthew ran as quickly as he could, not even caring that he was running into trees and branches as he went. He was cut and his feet tripped constantly, but he didn't stop. Tears blurred his vision so he closed his eyes tightly as he tried to run away from everything. It was too much for him to bear or understand, no matter how hard he tried.

"Birdie!" Gilbert yelled after him, but his voice was mangled as he panted to get to Matthew. "Please, stop running!"

But Matthew didn't stop, he had to keep going. He nearly ran into several trees, but he just pushed off of them and kept going, his eyes shut tight to try to forget everything, but it wasn't working. He was only greeted with memories of…

Suddenly, two arms wrapped themselves around him and Matthew screamed in terror, immediately thinking that it was that man that tortured him and he desperately tried to get away.

"It's okay, it's just me," Gilbert said softly and Matthew still fought back.

"Don't touch me!" Matthew screamed and finally opened his eyes. He was only steps away from a pond and Gilbert finally let him go. Matthew only stepped a few paces away from the thief. His voice was betraying his thoughts. He wanted…needed Gilbert there with him, but he was terrified. He was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably with just the memory of that man nearby. Thieves were something that always filled his nightmares, yet he allowed himself to fall in love with one. "Leave me alone!"

"No," Gilbert said, his voice gravelly. "I promised you I would never leave you alone."

"You don't understand!" Matthew screeched, desperately trying to create words through the sobs. "He has been a part of every one of my nightmares! He's the one that keeps me up at night and it was bad enough when I thought he was just a voice! I never wanted to connect a face to him and now I have and now he'll never leave me alone! I thought I was over it, I thought I had it under control but I don't! I never will! He's haunting me now! It's like I can feel it happening again and again and again and I can't take it!"

Gilbert wasted no time in pulling Matthew into a hug and Matthew clung to him, sobbing into his chest as much as he could. His throat was raw but he didn't care. He couldn't stop any of it.

"And you knew him," Matthew whispered.

"I don't think I was there during what happened to your town," Gilbert sighed, running a soothing hand up and down Matthew's back as he hiccupped but still cried, tears streaming down his face non-stop. "If I was, I would have stopped any of that from happening. I would never hurt anyone."

"No, you just kill people," Matthew snapped.

"I have to," Gilbert sighed. "That's a part of the job. I haven't killed someone in a long time. I know what it's like to die and I don't wish that on anyone."

"I don't, either," Matthew muttered.

"I'm sorry about everything that happened," Gilbert said calmly, his voice cracking but Matthew didn't mind. It was like music to his ears to have him just talking. "Nothing will reverse it but you have to use it to make you stronger. Don't make it a weakness, make it a strength. You're so badass that you came back from being blind. Nothing can stop you."

"Thank you," Matthew muttered, making sure to keep Gilbert close to him. Gilbert seemed just fine standing with him right beside that pond in the quiet forest. The leaves rustled and Matthew shivered at the small wind.

"It wouldn't be good if we both had shitty nightmares," Gilbert chuckled slightly, ruffling Matthew's hair. His voice was a nice, calm distraction and Matthew hummed, closing his eyes in content. Gilbert shifted slightly, but Matthew still didn't open his eyes. Gilbert's chest left him, but it was quickly replaced by Gilbert's lips. Matthew kissed him back eagerly, tilting his head for better access. He forgot about everything that was wrong and clung to Gilbert for dear life. As long as he was there, everything was fine.

***Fallen Stars***

"You have got to be shitting me," Gilbert stated and Alfred glanced back at him. They had set up camp at the very edge of the forest, the leaves glowing orange with the setting sun. Matthew was holding onto Gilbert's hand, his eyes with deep pools around them which he expected. Matthew gave Alfred a small smile and Alfred nodded to him.

"I believe you have already met our new members," Antonio snickered with Francis and Gilbert glared at him.

"What the hell are they doing here?" Gilbert glared at the two new additions, Elizaveta and Roderich. The woman from before, Elizaveta, had helped them and Alfred actually liked her a lot. She had long, light brown hair and bright green eyes and she got along very well with Lili, but Vash kept a close eye on her. Roderich, who was very calm, though a bit of a snob, had dark brown hair and deep purple eyes. They both proved themselves to be good allies and great people, so Alfred was happy to have them join the group.

"I didn't think someone like you would be in a group like this," Elizaveta smirked at him. "I thought it was a group for good people."

"I don't have to take this shit," Gilbert grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and releasing Matthew's hand. Elizaveta's eyes seemed to glint as she looked between the two, almost like she did when she looked at Alfred and Arthur, before she cleared her throat and stood up, holding out a hand for Gilbert to take.

"Let's just let the past stay in the past, alright?" Elizaveta smirked. "I won't tell anyone that I kicked your ass."

"Toni already beat you to it," Gilbert stared at the hand and Elizaveta chuckled lightly, pulling it back. Alfred could just tell by looking at the two that they wouldn't get along, which made Alfred smirk slightly. Now that things were sort of back to normal, or as normal as they usually could be, he could go back to sort of hating Gilbert. Now there was someone that he hated, so that was good. He looked at the ground, though, his mind still distracted with the sight of that corpse...

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get along great!" Elizaveta smiled widely. "Maybe you'll even show me that you've improved your fighting since last time we met."

"Why the hell are you with that prick anyway?" Gilbert glared at the other new member. "Last I checked, he hired me to get rid of you."

"And then things happened," Elizaveta chimed happily.

"I do not try to understand it," Roderich sighed from where he sat. He was dressed well, but in a way that it was kind of hard to notice. Elizaveta was dressed a little less well, but she was comfortable, so that was good.

"So," Arthur's voice purred in Alfred's ear and he jumped, pulling away before looking at Arthur. His green eyes were dark and he had on a sultry smirk, which told Alfred that he was the prostitute. "The other one gave me his memories of what happened. I could get very used to that side of you."

"I killed a man," Alfred said coldly and Arthur didn't even flinch. "That is nothing good nor is it something to be proud of."

"Sure it is," Arthur smirked, leaning more towards him and Alfred quickly stood up, feeling his sword heavily hit his leg and he flinched slightly. Each member in the group was engrossed in some kind of conversation, just barely glancing at them before deciding that it was nothing odd, what was happening.

"No, it's not," Alfred snapped and decided it would be best to walk away from the group slightly. Sadly, Arthur was hot on his heels.

"It shows that you have back bone," Arthur smirked. Alfred stopped and quickly turned around to glare at him.

"That is not something I can ever be proud of," Alfred growled. "Ending another human's life is nothing someone should be proud of."

"I consider every lowlife I kill an accomplishment," Arthur laughed. "I'm ridding the world of things it doesn't need. I'm helping your cause, if you think about it like that."

"You're helping nothing," Alfred stated. As much as he didn't mind this Arthur, he got on his nerves easily if he got onto the right subject. "People like you are the ones I'm trying to get rid of."

"Fine, if you want to work that way, I'll play," Arthur smirked and leaned extremely close. Alfred's eyes widened in surprise as he was practically pushed against a tree. As he hit it, a few leaves fell onto the ground around them. Arthur muttered something under his breath that Alfred couldn't understand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alfred asked, trying to keep his nerve up, like he knew he needed in this case.

"Just enjoy the bliss, love," Arthur smirked and leaned forward even more. His breath ghosted over Alfred's lips and he shivered in anticipation, but he didn't know why. His eye lids became lidded quickly as he stared at Arthur, slowly realizing just how beautiful he really was. In just a matter of seconds, he fully discovered just how willing he was to let himself be fucked by such a magnificent specimen. Arthur's lips touched onto his and a spark was set off and Alfred gasped.

Arthur took that advantage to delve his tongue expertly into Alfred's mouth to explore. Alfred let it happen, groaning into the pleasure as he was pushed back, into the tree. He only wished that it could go faster to what he really wanted, what he really needed. His body ached for Arthur as he ignored his need for air easily. Nothing else in the world mattered but Arthur.

And not even the other one, he wasn't important. Obviously, the better Arthur was the one in front of him now.

*****Fallen Stars*****

**Oh, this chapter. I love it, but I hate my computer. That first two thirds? Yeah, my computer froze so I had to write it twice. I hate my life. But it's done now and I'm happy, especially with the ending! I'm so happy with everything! This chapter turned out so much more beautiful than I thought it would!**

**Hope you enjoyed! Please review!**


	19. Stop

**Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop.  
-H. L. Mencken**

*****Fallen Stars*****

"Alfred and Arthur have been gone for a while," Gilbert sighed, stretching as he leaned against a nearby tree. It was nearly getting dark and it wasn't safe to be away from their group this close to the cold weeks. Even Gilbert, as a thief, was so scared for them to come that he was sure he wouldn't sleep until they ended. It wouldn't be the first time he went days without sleep.

"I am rather worried about Arthur," Francis stated. He, Antonio, Matthew, and Ludwig were around Gilbert, while Yao, Elizaveta, Roderich, Vash, and Lili were off on the other side of their tiny fire doing their own thing. They were close, at least.

"Which one?" Gilbert smirked. "The one you had sex with?"

"Yes," Francis said simply and Matthew blushed a deep red. Gilbert laughed, patting his shoulder. "It seems that the sanity of our favorite prostitute is on more shaky terms than we thought it would be."

"It would make sense, considering the fight that is happening between the two personalities," Ludwig stated. Gilbert had fought hard to make sure that Ludwig would be safe from any prostitute dealers attempting to change his mind and he'd been successful so far, but Ludwig always felt pity when he saw the prostitutes and Gilbert just sighed.

"What do you mean, Franny?" Gilbert asked, leaning forward.

"He needs to show that he is stronger than the other personality," Francis explained. "He's become more violent, even outside of sex, and he seems almost desperate about something, which I assume would be gaining control."

"Well, if there were two personalities in my head, I would want the other one out, too," Antonio shrugged.

"But it's not even his head," Matthew stated, his face still a little red, which was extremely adorable and Gilbert had to force himself to not comment on it. "Which is probably why he's fighting so hard. It's practically already a losing battle when he's not even on solid ground."

"But he is stronger, which he has been keen in pointing out," Antonio said.

"Which is odd," Francis said. "Usually, the second personality is weaker in magic. As Matthew said, they are on shaky ground, so the magic they create isn't as strong as the first personality."

"So either original Artie has a secret about his magic," Gilbert offered, "or prostitute is losing and he's trying so hard to win that it's messing up his head."

"I'm going to go look for Alfred and Arthur," Matthew announced, standing up.

"I'll go with you, it's not good to be alone right before the cold weeks," Gilbert smirked, standing up as well and stretching his arms over his head and began walking with Matthew in the direction he'd barely seen Alfred and Arthur head off in. "And I'd definitely pay to see something like this."

"What do you think we're going to see?" Matthew sputtered. "It's not like they're going to be having sex, Alfred would never let that happen!"

"Well, he does have a thing for both of them," Gilbert shrugged. "And this one's obviously better at sex. If I were in his place, I would take this shot while I have it."

"Well, Alfred's not you," Matthew muttered and Gilbert patted his head.

"Yeah, knowing our little hero, we'll find them and he'll be fighting it," Gilbert laughed and Matthew glanced at him with a small frown on his face. "No matter what option I chose, you're not gonna be happy with it."

"We'll just…find out what's happening when we get there," Matthew said slowly and Gilbert sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "If…if we were in the same position as them and if I had another personality that came onto you, would you have sex with him?"

Gilbert looked over to Matthew, who had a serious look on his face, but it was also an adorable look on him. Just the idea of a prostitute taking over that body pissed him off. But, if he had to think about it in Alfred's situation, if he somehow had a thing for the other personality, then Gilbert had to admit…he would probably do it. But he couldn't exactly say that to Matthew, but he was waiting for an answer. He could probably tell if Gilbert was lying, which wasn't a good position to be in. The only way to make it past this would be to just go around the truth.

"Alfred?" Matthew squeaked, looking ahead. Gilbert nearly sighed with relief, he didn't have to answer the question after all. In front of them, serving as a distraction, was Alfred and Arthur, and damn, was it one hell of a distraction.

Alfred was being pressed against a tree, his shirt discarded on the ground just below them, his mouth being practically devoured by Arthur, who was using his free hand not holding onto Alfred' s hair to move towards his pants. The two didn't seem to care about anything else and Gilbert had to fight not to laugh. Something happened, obviously, and he was curious as to what.

"A-Alfred! Arthur! What are you…" Matthew looked like he wanted to move forward to stop it, but didn't move from his spot, his face turning a deep red once again at the sound of the moans.

"Called it," Gilbert muttered.

Suddenly, Arthur's eyes snapped open, revealing the lighter eyes of the original and Arthur squeaked, pushing against Alfred to get away from him as quickly as possible, brushing away the saliva trail that stayed.

"Alfred, why…what…" Arthur muttered, breathing deeply with a hand covering his mouth as his panicked eyes looked at Alfred, who's eyes were still half-lidded in lust. Gilbert finally understood what happened now.

"Aw, come on, babe," Alfred smirked, moving closer, but Arthur kept the distance between them, his limbs shaking in panic. "Don't be like that."

"Alfred," Arthur muttered, hitting a tree. His eyes widened in panic, as if his escape plan had just been instantly foiled as Alfred advanced.

"What's going on?" Matthew asked. "I don't understand."

"It was a love spell," Gilbert explained with a smirk. Arthur thrust his hand forward and roots came out of the ground, tying themselves around Alfred's arms and forcing him to sit onto the ground. "I'm guessing the other Arthur did it."

"Are you trying to make this more interesting like this?" Alfred smirked, not even looking away from Arthur, as if he was the only person in the world.

"Matthew, watch your brother," Arthur said breathlessly before running in the other direction, through the forest.

"I'll get him," Gilbert sighed as he began walking to where Arthur ran off to. "Make sure your brother doesn't move, love spells can be pretty dangerous." Matthew nodded and Gilbert ran after Arthur. He didn't have to go far, thankfully, as he eventually saw Arthur leaning against a tree with his eyes closed and his arms crossed over his chest.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Arthur groaned.

"You mean your other personality for casting the love spell?" Gilbert smirked, staying a few feet away from the wizard. "Or the fact that you ran away from your little crush, who's now perfectly willing to go as far as you want?"

"Shut the hell up," Arthur snapped, glaring at him with dark eyes before they lightened and Arthur dropped to sit on the ground with a groan. Gilbert raised in eyebrow in confusion, he didn't expect to see the personalities switch so easily. "I don't know. It just bothers me that my other personality decided on his feelings for Alfred in a few minutes and then acted on them in even a shorter amount of time."

"I've got no idea how his mind works, but that doesn't seem like love that the other one has for him," Gilbert shrugged. "That's more like lust."

"It's not his fault," Arthur sighed, rolling his eyes. "That's the only way he knows how to show affection. Or, rather, wants to. He doesn't think that a relationship like yours and Matthew's is anything interesting."

"Why are you defending him?" Gilbert asked. "He's your competition, in more ways than one now."

"Sod off," Arthur muttered.

"You can't run away from that problem," Gilbert stated, jabbing his thumb in the direction that Matthew and Alfred still were. "It won't go away until you fix it."

"He cast that spell," Arthur sighed. "I'm weaker than him, I can't reverse that spell, especially considering how strong it is."

"Oh, shut the hell up already," Gilbert groaned. "I don't give a shit if you're willing to give up, go ahead and just ignore Alfred for the rest of your life, I'm sure that'll be easy. But what's not awesome is having a love struck idiot that's obsessing over both of you obviously being in charge of us. It was better when he was obsessing quietly, just in his head. If you aren't willing to fix it for yourself, do it for the fact that the cold weeks are coming any minute and we need a leader that's not going to want to have sex with you all day."

"I thought you said that you didn't want him to be the leader," Arthur muttered, glancing up at him.

"I said I never participated in the vote," Gilbert shrugged. "As far as I see it, he's the best one up for leader so far. He's a little rough on the edges, sure, but he'll do good things in the future." Images quickly flashed through Gilbert's mind, too quickly for him to understand it, but he got the message well enough. Alfred should be and stay the leader. And Arthur should…

Gilbert lost his focus and his balance and stumbled backwards, hitting a tree that snapped him out of whatever had just happened, barely remembering it and Arthur just stared at him, shaking his head before looking away.

"In any case, you have to fix it, I don't give a shit about if it's too hard," Gilbert said, standing upright again. "We're gonna get moving soon, out of the forest before the leaves fall. I want him back to normal before then."

"Fine," Arthur sighed, standing up swiftly before walking past Gilbert. "I don't see why you don't take over control, you seem so adept at it."

"Too much work for me," Gilbert smirked, but something in the back of his mind said _It's because it's not your place_. Gilbert shook his head to regain focus and followed Arthur back to the twins. Alfred, immediately upon seeing Arthur, perked up from his spot stuck on the ground.

"I must have died and gone to heaven because I see an angel," Alfred smirked and Arthur blushed.

"He's calmed down a little bit," Matthew sighed.

"Now he's just intent on flirting with me," Arthur muttered, stopping a few feet from Alfred, who looked at him with a dopey look. "That is no better than before."

"You got a map?" Alfred asked. "I seem to have gotten lost in your eyes."

Gilbert couldn't stop himself from laughing. He had to write some of those down, they were hilarious! They succeeded in flustering Arthur, which was more than enough for Alfred to be happy.

"It seems that the spell has weakened now that I've changed personalities," Arthur sighed, kneeling in front of Alfred, who looked at him with a dreamy look.

"Wow, just when I thought the view wouldn't get any more amazing," Alfred muttered and Arthur shook his head before muttering words that Gilbert couldn't understand under his breath. He assumed that it was a spell but raised an eyebrow when Arthur carefully pressed his lips against Alfred's. Alfred immediately kissed back, but then he relaxed slightly. Arthur pulled back and nodded before standing up and quickly turning away. The roots holding Alfred disappeared as Alfred shook his head, as if he was coming out of a trance.

"Dude, what the hell just happened?" Alfred asked, holding onto his head, looking up at Arthur. "Oh, hey Artie, what are you doing here?"

"Good, he doesn't remember any of it," Arthur muttered and began to walk back towards the main group. Matthew followed him, glancing at Gilbert, who looked at Alfred. Matthew nodded before walking with Arthur.

Gilbert looked down at Alfred, who let out a depressed sigh as he leaned forward, on his knees.

"So, how much of that were you in control of?" Gilbert smirked.

"A little bit after he broke away from the first kiss," Alfred smiled slightly. "That was probably my only shot to get him."

"Oh, you've got plenty," Gilbert laughed, walking over to where Alfred's shirt was lying and tossed it to the boy, who easily put it on. "Do you have any splinters on your back from when you were making out with the prostitute?"

"I'll deal with those later," Alfred grunted as he stood up. "We should head back. I'm sure this will be our last good night's rest before the cold weeks start."

"Good luck getting anyone to sleep," Gilbert stated and Alfred shrugged. They walked back quietly but Alfred stopped just before they joined the loud, noisy group.

"Tell me honestly, how do you feel about my brother?" Alfred asked, glancing back at him and Gilbert stopped.

"Why are you asking all of a sudden?" Gilbert asked. He thought it was a little weird that Alfred with his own "love" so he might be beginning to understand other love.

"I just want to know if I should be willing to trust you with him," Alfred said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"I would never do anything to hurt him," Gilbert smiled softly, patting Alfred's shoulder as he walked by him and continued to his group. "I'd do anything for that kid, so you don't have to worry about me. If I were you, I'd worry about other people in our group."

"People like who?" Alfred asked. "Eliza and Roderich? Just because you had a bad past with them doesn't mean anything."

"I just don't trust them, alright?" Gilbert scoffed. It wasn't like he could tell Alfred what he heard them talking about, he would just think that Gilbert was making it up to get rid of them. Just when he thought they were getting somewhere, they were back to being negatively indifferent about each other. "You should listen to your team a little more often, leader."

Gilbert walked ahead of him to go back to the group. He saw Matthew laughing with Francis and Antonio and Ludwig glanced at him, checking to make sure nothing was wrong, before turning his attention back to the closest conversation. Yao was sitting against a tree while Arthur stood beside him, talking calmly about nothing in particular. Vash was sitting with Lili as the girl made a crown out of the dying flowers on the ground. Elizaveta and Roderich sat close to the fire, talking quietly about something Gilbert was sure wouldn't be good.

As Alfred made a beeline for his brother, Gilbert walked to Elizaveta and Roderich, sitting down beside them and their conversation stopped immediately. He smirked at the sudden attention.

"So, what the hell are you two doing out and about so close to the cold weeks?" Gilbert asked simply, trying to create a conversation. He would have to reveal them somehow, but it would be awesome if he could do it in a way that he wasn't directly involved. He would have to get them to reveal themselves and then they could kick them out of the group, since Alfred was so against killing people. At least, he seemed like he was against it. He didn't seem to have a problem with it anymore.

"If you must know, my manor was burnt down by a group of thieves," Roderich said stiffly. "We have been on our own since then."

"Let me ask another question, then," Gilbert shrugged. "What are you two doing together? Last I checked, he hired me to get rid of some skilled warrior women. I heard that warrior women didn't separate until death."

"Well," Elizaveta smiled brightly and Gilbert scowled. She was way too peppy and it was starting to piss him off, "after you turned us in, since I was the leader, Roderich kept me in his manor and forced the other warrior women to leave, keeping me as insurance that they wouldn't come back or else he'd kill me. At first, we hated each other and he forced me to wear dresses…of all things," Elizaveta shuddered. "Anyway, eventually, as we got to know each other, we figured out that we loved each other."

"And you lived happily ever after," Gilbert rolled his eyes.

"Like you would ever know anything about treating a woman properly," Elizaveta scoffed. "I bet you don't even know a lot about love anyway." Gilbert smirked. The girl was usually very observant, but maybe she was just focusing on not blowing her cover before she was allowed to. "Since it was just me, I couldn't fight off a whole band of thieves and so we had to run away. I hear you ran away from your thieves' guild."

"All of the thieves here did," Gilbert smirked. "I'm willing to have a whole team of people after me to kill me to follow this ideal, what about you?"

"Don't be so childish," Roderich stated. "This is not a competition of who is more dedicated. Everyone here agrees with Alfred's ideals about the world and how it should be changed."

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Elizaveta smiled brightly. "If we could change the world for the better, I would be happy to be a part of it. You're probably just here for the glory of it."

"Sure, let's go with that," Gilbert sighed. He didn't even remember what made him join the group, all he knew was that he suddenly changed his mind. It wasn't completely his decision, but he wouldn't take it back for anything. "So, you're just here to better the world? That's it?"

Elizaveta nodded. "We saw how distraught Alfred was over killing that man and we figured that there was something different about him from everyone else and then we heard about his ideals and I was intent on joining him."

"And I would follow you anywhere," Roderich said simply and Elizaveta giggled. "I also agree with the ideals."

"You know, we even have a King on our side," Gilbert smirked, leaning back on his hands while looking up, at the falling red and yellow leaves. It almost looked beautiful, but he knew what it meant and so was only filled with dread. "Alfred was able to convince King Mathias to join our ideals, but he's not with us since he's so busy."

"Is that so?" Elizaveta asked happily and Roderich seemed to get nervous. He was right, he wasn't a good liar. "That's wonderful! I was wondering why you all had such lovely equipment! I'm sure Alfred got his sword from him!"

"Definitely," Gilbert lied. "The King was so nice to us, he even gave this protection charm to Alfred to make sure we were safe during the cold weeks."

"Oh, how lovely," Elizaveta smiled, turning to Roderich. "I wish we had a protection charm for the times we were travelling on our own."

"Yes," Roderich nodded slowly.

"You know what's a little weird, though?" Gilbert asked. "Arthur was talking about how he thought that the charm did something more than protect. That's what he was talking about with Alfred for so long in the woods. We think that maybe Mathias was lying to us."

"Well, he would never!" Elizaveta protested. "He's a King, after all! He is a good man!"

"Wanna know what else I'm thinking he did?" Gilbert asked and Roderich narrowed his eyes. "I think he sent two assassins after us that would join our group just to keep an eye on us."

"What a terrible accusation!" Elizaveta gasped, placing a hand over her heart. "Mathias would never send anyone and Lukas would never give a charm that would do anything but protect you."

"Weird," Gilbert smiled triumphantly. "No one knows the names of King Mathias' group. How did you know the name of his wizard, the one that gave the charm to Alfred?"

"Elizaveta," Roderich muttered and Elizaveta narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah," Elizaveta nodded slowly.

"Gilbert," Roderich began and Gilbert suddenly felt surge at his chest. "I know you are uneasy about new people in the group, but-" he was cut off as Gilbert fell to the ground, unable to keep himself sitting up. He felt himself beginning to shake, his eyes forced to stay wide open. He would have thought that it was just a regular seizure, but this was different. Something was…off. There was a feeling in the back of his head.

"Gilbert!" Ludwig shouted and was by Gilbert's side in a second. Gilbert continued to convulse, his entire body out of his control as Ludwig tried to force him to stay still. More people came and their voices and faces morphed together as Gilbert's vision and hearing blurred. He felt the conversation he had had with Elizaveta and Roderich slowly fall from his memory.

Finally, the shaking subsided and Gilbert sat there, breathing deeply as the hands on his legs and arms released him slowly.

"I thought the seizures were getting better," Matthew muttered, the first voice that Gilbert heard after everything.

"They were," Gilbert croaked, trying to return his head to normalcy. He knew he was forgetting something important, it was nagging him in the back of his mind, but it wouldn't come to him. He glanced at Elizaveta, who looked very concerned, and Roderich, who had a slight smug look on his face.

"These happen often?" Elizaveta asked carefully as Ludwig helped Gilbert sit upright.

"I can sit up on my own," Gilbert muttered, looking right at Elizaveta as she stared at him with big, concerned eyes. There was definitely something he was supposed to remember and it pissed him off that he just couldn't come up with anything.

"They started occurring less when he joined the group," Francis explained. "But, yes, they happen quite often. Though his nightmares are far worse."

"That is very unfortunate," Roderich stated and Gilbert glared at him. He was sure they did something. He was going to talk to them, but everything after that was a blank in his memory. He knew they were traitors, he just had to find out a way to get them discovered, without having something bad happen to him, too.

"Yeah," Gilbert nodded. "It sucks."

*****Fallen Stars*****

**Oh, my. In all honesty, there are a quite a few plot points that I didn't expect to happen until I was very bored one day, watching House don't judge me, and came up with so many plot bunnies. And it happens more and more often. Anyway, USUK happened up there, two different times, and a little bit of PruCan and a little bit of AusHun. Ships, man. All the ships. Anyway, I'm excited for next chapter and I'm excited to see what you guys think about this chapter so…**

**Please review!**


	20. Lonely

**I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known. Don't know where it goes but it's home to me and I walk alone.  
-From Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams**

*****Fallen Stars*****

When Alfred woke up, he was covered in red and gold leaves. The air was cold to the point where he could see his own breath and the trees were completely bare, turned white to match the coming winter. It wouldn't protect them anymore, now they were on their own.

"Get up," Alfred said, loudly enough to make sure everyone really did wake up. He stood up quickly, the rustle of leaves incredibly loud.

"The trees have already turned white?" Arthur mused as he sat upright quickly.

"I watched it happen," Gilbert stated, leaning against the tree behind him as he looked around. "I figured we still had a little time before things got really bad. Thieves usually wait a little while before going through the forests."

"We should get moving now, then," Alfred stated. Everyone else rustled through the leaves as they got up, too. Matthew looked scared as he looked around at the scene. It was extremely quiet, which was starting to creep Alfred out. The sooner they got to a town, the better.

"Gimme a few minutes to wake up," Antonio mumbled.

"What if we didn't have a few minutes?" Alfred asked coldly and Francis raised an eyebrow at him.

"So now that you've killed someone, you're acting like you're tough?" Francis asked and Alfred flinched, but only slightly.

"There are better times to ask me about my motives," Alfred muttered. It was true that he was still recovering from actually murdering that man. Sure, that love spell allowed him to forget about it for a little bit, but it still entered his thoughts. No matter what that man did, no matter how horrible it was, he still didn't deserve to die. Especially not by Alfred's hands. For now, he would try to forget about it and just focus on helping his group through the cold weeks. With any luck, he'll be able to really forget about what he'd done. "For now, I think I'm suitable enough to lead us through the cold weeks. If I'm not at any point, Gilbert can take over for me."

"I didn't participate in that vote," Gilbert smirked. "You're the leader, I'll sit back and watch."

"Anyone else have a problem?" Alfred asked, looking at the rest of the group, all of them standing. Antonio leaned heavily against Francis, his eyelids drooping. Vash nodded to him while Lili smiled innocently. It was a good thing neither she nor Matthew were there for when Alfred actually killed that man. Elizaveta and Roderich seemed quite okay with it as well. "Then we're going to move to the next town over now. I don't want to be anywhere near this forest during the cold weeks."

"Then let's get moving," Yao nodded and the group started to walk, Alfred staying in the back. As usual, they all talked amongst themselves and Alfred, oddly, stayed quiet. He didn't want to get lost in his own thoughts, so he focused on looking at the leaves and thinking through possible plans to get around being attacked during the cold weeks. If Arthur could keep up a barrier of some sort during the night, that would be extremely helpful.

"Alfred," Arthur's voice knocked Alfred out of his thoughts and he looked over to see Arthur looking over at him. It was still the original, which was good. It seemed that the second one had an interest in him now. "Is this really the best way to go about getting over a murder?"

"Would you prefer that I just pretend it never happened?" Alfred asked gruffly. "I killed a man, but I'm supposed to be a hero. Heroes don't kill people."

"You're creating far too thin of a line for a hero," Arthur stated. "Those that don't kill are killed in this world. Think of it like this; a hero doesn't kill the innocent."

"I can't," Alfred muttered. "No one deserves to be killed, especially like I did it. A hero isn't supposed to be an easy thing to be. And I'm determined to be one, I just have to get over a few bumps here and there. Don't worry about me, I won't loathe in self-pity for long."

"Don't loathe in pity at all," Arthur scoffed. "Do you think I sit and wallow for a while every time my other personality kills someone? Or I sit in panic every time I wake up and find out I've had sex again?"

"You're just used to it," Alfred grumbled and Arthur swiftly stood in front of him before stopping and wasted no time in swiping his hand across Alfred's face, a loud SMACK resounding from it that left Alfred's ears ringing. The rest of the group stopped and turned to them, staying quiet.

"Don't you dare say something like that again," Arthur growled at him. "Next time, I might just use my magic and it'll hurt a hell of a lot more."

"Well, shit," Gilbert laughed. "I didn't think that one would have the guts to do it! What the hell did you even say, Alfred?"

"Nothing," Alfred cleared his throat and continued to walk, going through the rest of the group until he walked ahead of them. "Don't worry about it."

"If it wasn't already cold, I would say that it dropped a few degrees," Francis chuckled as everyone continued. The leaves continued to rustle, creating the only noise that Alfred was really listening to. Everyone else's conversations dulled into the background and he tried to drown everything out.

He didn't even realize when they walked up to a town until snow started to fall in front of his face. Alfred flinched slightly away from it but looked ahead. The town looked safe and good enough for the time being. Alfred would have to think of something quickly to do for the cold weeks. If he knew where they were, he definitely would have gone back to Mathias' castle or something.

"We'll stay here for a little while," Alfred stated and was a little surprised when he saw a couple of people with fiery red hair bobbing through the crowd ahead, lighting up the dreary surroundings. "Keep close and don't stand out."

"I'll try my hardest, sir," Gilbert laughed, giving him a half-hearted salute before running off, into the crowd with Matthew, Francis, and Antonio. Alfred just sighed and walked forward, calmly into the town. The rest of the group scattered around, but stayed close enough to the point where Alfred could see them sometimes through the crowd.

"So, what is your plan?" Arthur asked behind him and Alfred glanced back, a little surprised to see Arthur staying so close to him. "I suppose you should have one, leader."

"I'm working on it," Alfred muttered. They had a huge group and, even though that could be handy, it was also hard to make sure all of them stayed safe. He couldn't think of any solid plan and he kept on getting distracted by dangerous thoughts.

"You better work quickly, then," Arthur sighed and Alfred looked up at the gray sky. The sun wouldn't come out for a few weeks now, leaving them with constant snow. Alfred was used to it, he even played in it a little as a kid when he was stupidly innocent. It was a good thing that they all had boots on them.

"I know," Alfred sighed.

"Shit," Arthur hissed, stopping suddenly and Alfred stopped to look back at him in confusion. Arthur looked past him in pure terror and Alfred looked over to see one of the people with the fiery red hair, who was quickly joined by another, shorter one, and another one with brown hair. All of them had Arthur's dazzling, green eyes. "Ugh, damn, he can't even manage to look them in the face," Alfred looked over to see Arthur cracking his neck, his eyes turned dark. He glanced at Alfred and smirked before glaring at the three in front of him. "Then again, I don't quite like them, either."

"Oi! Art!" the tall red-head jogged over to them with a smirk on his face and Arthur scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Never thought I'd see you again after last time!"

"You always say that," Arthur stated bluntly.

"Oh, it's just you again," the shorter red-head sighed, poking his head around the taller one. "I was hoping it would actually be our brother this time."

"There's no chance in Hell he'd want to see you again," Arthur smirked. "I don't even want to."

"Oh, come on," the brunette sighed, standing beside the tall one. "We did what we had to in order to survive, you gotta understand that."

"Besides," the short red-head shrugged, "without us doing that, you wouldn't have been created, so you should be thanking us!"

"Uh, who are these guys?" Alfred asked and the three immediately looked over at him, seeming to blink in unison at him.

"And here I thought you actually ran away from that dealer," the tall red-head laughed. "Turns out, you just went to a new one!"

Arthur growled at glared at the tall one and a sudden flame appeared on his head and he yelped, scrambling to put it out. With a smirk, Arthur lit the other two's hair on fire as well.

"To make it clear, I am no longer a prostitute," Arthur stated gruffly.

"It's funny, Artie would never be able to pull off that kind of look," the brunette laughed slightly after his fire was out. "You do it pretty well, though."

"My name is still Arthur," he spat and Alfred flinched. He really was pissed off. He'd never seen it before, but he could feel the energy coming off him, most likely from his magic and it set Alfred on edge. The three didn't seem to notice and continued to egg Arthur on.

"Nah, Art is our brother," the tall red-head shrugged. "You're just the add-on." Alfred flinched and Arthur snarled.

"You sound as though you want me to kill you," Arthur snapped. "Trust me, I would enjoy every moment of your agony as I do it slowly. So would the other one."

"Uh, I'm not really a part of this," Alfred decided to pipe up again before things got really bad. This time, all four of them glared at him like he was interrupting something important, "but I just think we should cool down and-"

"Trust me, I have quite a few choice words for you as well," Arthur snapped. "Now be a good lad and shut the hell up." Suddenly, Alfred's mouth snapped shut and he couldn't open it. Not even a noise came through his throat.

"Who's this then, your fuck buddy?" the tall red-head laughed.

"My fuck buddy is elsewhere," Arthur said simply. "In any case, I suggest you leave before I lose my temper. Be thankful I'm giving you this much mercy."

"Come on, we just wanna get to know the people our brother and company are hanging around with," the brunette smile and walked over to Alfred, wrapping an arm around his neck and bringing him close. He was roughly the same height as Alfred, maybe just a little taller. Arthur glowered at him and Alfred shivered slightly at the cold look.

"So, who the hell is this fuck buddy?" the tall red-head smirked, leaning close to Arthur. "You still the bottom?"

"Never," Arthur growled.

"Hey, what's this book?" the shorter red-head asked curiously, attempting to take the book out of Arthur's grip and the look on Arthur's face was enough to make Alfred want to run for the hills. That was his last straw on his already thin patience.

"If you so much as touch it, I will guarantee you that you will not survive to the next minute," Arthur snapped and, finally, the man put his hands up and carefully backed away. "So now you're finally scared? Well, it's too late to back away now. You've already pissed me off, now you should worry about the consequences."

"Oi! Stop!" the brunette said, releasing Alfred and pushing him away as he moved towards Arthur, who glared at him with incredibly dark eyes. Alfred noticed that they were hardly green anymore, almost completely dark gray. With a flick of Arthur's wrist, the man's entire clothing seemed to freeze and his skin turned pale as he shivered uncontrollably. His breath was less noticeable in the cold surroundings as he dropped down to his knees.

"Arthur," the tall red-head barked and Arthur turned his glare to him.

"Are you calling to your brother to stop this?" Arthur asked. "Or are you finally admitting that I own this body just as much as he does?"

"Please, you're nowhere near as good at magic as he is," the short red-head scoffed and Arthur growled. Alfred flinched. They were just egging him on further. They already looked scared enough and this scene was causing a lot of people in town to stop and look in interest.

Arthur swiped his hand through the air and the short red-head was flung through the air, slamming through a little hut with a large crash. Arthur smirked happily, letting out a dark chuckle, as though he was content with causing pain. He looked back to the tall red-head, who's eyes portrayed how terrified he was, but no other part of his body.

"Any other smart-ass comment you would like to say to me?" Arthur gave an almost crazy smile.

"You will never be Arthur," he said simply.

"Good," Arthur snapped his fingers and the tall redhead was enveloped in flames. He screamed and Alfred's eyes went wide. The man dropped to the ground and the flames quickly went out as Arthur looked down at him. The burns were extremely present and the man continued to scream, as if the flames were still there. "And you," Arthur turned towards Alfred and his mouth was finally allowed to move.

"Arthur, calm down," Alfred blurted out as Arthur slowly advanced on him and Alfred moved backwards. He'd never seen Arthur this mad before and it was terrifying. The man was still screaming on the ground and the town was silent as the grave as Alfred was backed into a small hut with nowhere to go.

"I am done with your bloody ideals and your stupid group," Arthur snapped, a crazed look still on his face. "No one in this world will give a damn about what you are doing and you should realize that eventually, but that damn heroic mind is getting in your bloody way! Look at the world and realize nothing will change." Arthur started laughing again but he still looked incredibly pissed off. "You'll all just die in pitiful ways at this rate. I will have nothing to do with that, I will survive for myself, no one and nothing else."

Alfred was incredibly surprised when Arthur pushed him against the hut and forcefully pressed his lips against Alfred's. Alfred was reminded of the first time they met and nearly lost himself in allowing Arthur to do what he wanted. But the wizard pulled back too soon with a glare.

"Fuck you," Arthur spat and turned around swiftly, walking over the screaming man and through the crowd that parted ways for him. As Arthur walked into the dead forest just a small ways away from the town, he knocked down a tree with a loud curse. But he didn't turn back, he just walked straight ahead.

"Arthur," Alfred muttered, watching as the man walked away, but he didn't go after him. The town waited for a moment before it continued moving in its mindless crowd, but the people in his group stayed still, watching Alfred, as if they were waiting for him to do something.

"What should we do now?" Matthew asked carefully, walking up to Alfred.

"We'll keep going," Alfred cleared his throat, standing up straight and looked into the forest in any direction other than the one Arthur went down. "That was just one person we lost. We can keep going towards what we wanted to do in the first place."

"Yeah, who the hell needs that wizard anyway," Gilbert cackled and Alfred flinched. Gilbert lead the group in front of him and Alfred watched them go. Yao was at the back of the group and Alfred placed a hand on his shoulder as he began to walk slowly.

"I hope you're good enough at magic to take his place," Alfred stated shakily, not looking Yao in the eyes as they began to trudge through the snow that was already a few inches deep. He could hear the screams of that man finally begin to die down.

***Fallen Stars***

"Damn!" Arthur screamed, punching another tree and watching as it fell with an incredibly loud noise. Arthur let out a yell and fire spat out in every direction, hitting every tree and causing them to topple over, but the fire didn't continue because Arthur didn't want them to. His grip on the book was tight enough to kill as he knocked over another tree with wind as he continued on his way angrily. He was pissed off. He had perfectly good reason to be, dammit! Those damn brothers only pissed him off every time they came and he damned the other personality because he was too weak to face them in the first place!

"Go the fuck away!" Arthur screamed again as Alfred's face entered his thoughts again. He threw a ball of fire through the trees, knocking several down and lighting several on fire as it went. He didn't need Alfred, his body just did. He found out a short while ago that he was attracted to Alfred, but it had nothing to do with the personality. He still hated that damn brat, but the other one was still in love with him.

His hands were shaking in his rage as Arthur continued to think and he knocked down several more trees with just his fist and some applied magic. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair in attempt to calm himself, but it didn't work well at all. He attempted counting backwards from ten as he continued forward at a rather quick pace.

At about five, he saw the oddest thing. A green tree with dark brown bark standing out among the white.

"What the hell?" Arthur muttered to himself as he continued to walk forwards. He saw more green trees appear and his interest piqued, his anger being shoved to the back of his mind. As he continued forward, he saw more and more dark green and brown trees. Suddenly, it became warm and the ground was completely free of snow with green trees surrounding him completely. Arthur looked back and, just a step away, there was inches of snow piling on the ground. It was almost as though there was a barrier and Arthur looked around. The sun seemed to be shining through the trees that covered his sight and Arthur continued forward, his feet almost moving on his own towards the center.

Finally, he appeared in a clearing and, in the center was a massive tree, perhaps fifty feet in diameter with its roots visible all around the clearing. The sun shone as if there were no clouds just outside the mysterious barrier.

"What are you doing here?" the voice of a kid asked and Arthur whipped around quickly, his arm poised and ready to attack any stranger, but he dropped it when he saw the lad in front of him. He had messy sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes, just as bright as Alfred's. He looked incredibly innocent, which pissed Arthur off and his frown looked unnatural on him. He didn't have any shoes on, but his outfit was mostly blue and seemed to be made out of impeccable cloth. There was a massive amount of magic energy but Arthur wasn't sure if it was from the boy or just from the forest around him. There seemed to be more magic here than any other part of the forest.

"Who the hell are you?" Arthur snapped.

"Well, who are you?" the boy tried to seem intimidating and Arthur just found himself getting more angry by the second. He wouldn't mind harming a kid, in all honesty.

"Where am I?" Arthur tried and the boy's eyes widened a little in surprise before he smiled slightly.

"You're in the Heart," the boy stated and Arthur glared at him.

"The Heart of what?" Arthur spat and the boy frowned.

"Well, you don't have to be so rude," the boy scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.

"Kid, I would suggest you answer my questions before I kill you," Arthur growled and the boy looked at him before shaking his head.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Don't piss me off," Arthur growled. This kid dared to tell him what to do?

"Well, don't be such a prick," the boy stuck his tongue out at him and Arthur growled, throwing a ball of fire right at the kid's head. The other one screamed in the back of his head but Arthur ignored him with a smirk. The kid's eyes widened in horror and Arthur laughed.

However, the fire didn't hit the lad, it seemed to merely hit a barrier to be absorbed. Just a second later, a massive wave of energy slammed into Arthur and flung him backwards. He hit something hard and blacked out.

***Fallen Stars***

Peter flinched as the ball of fire headed right towards him. But the ball didn't hit him, just like the voices said, rather it was absorbed and a wave of energy hit the mysterious man. He slammed into a tree behind him, causing the thing to break in half and the man tumbled to the ground.

"Sir!" Peter scrambled over to the man, screaming slightly when he saw the blood coming from the man's head and mouth, along with the scratches over his body. "Help me!" Peter called out and the creatures all poked their heads out from behind various trees, all of them looking slightly afraid. But when they caught sight of that mysterious man, they all immediately joined Peter.

Peter took a deep breath and moved his hand over the man's head, smiling slightly as the bleeding stopped there. The creatures surrounding the man fussed over him repeatedly and Peter frowned slightly.

"You like him better than me, don't you?" Peter muttered before he noticed the book that the man had discarded a few feet away on the ground. "What's this?"

*****Fallen Stars*****

**Peter's here! I didn't know how or when he was going to become part of the plot, but then Arthur happened up there and I thought this was the perfect chance! I hope I managed to confuse you guys enough with the fact that there's a green part of the forest through the cold weeks. What is the Heart? What is Peter doing there? What about those voices? I might answer those questions eventually.**

**In other news, I'm officially done with school for the summer and that means I can write more. I have another story that will be coming out really soon. I'm hoping to get a chapter out once every other day but we'll see how that goes.**

**In any case, please review! It's super nice!**


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